The new National Commissioner of the SA Police Service, General Fannie Masemola, on Saturday said the arrest of Advocate Malesela Teffo inside the Pretoria High Court complied with the law.
Advocate Teffo – who is the defence lawyer of four of the five men accused of the murder of football star Senzo Meyiwa – was arrested soon after the court adjourned on Thursday afternoon.
The advocate spent the night in the cells and was granted bail of R10 000 the next day by the Hillbrow Magistrate’s Court.
Stung by criticism about the manner police arrested Advocate Teffo inside the high court, General Masemola – who is in his first month as the top cop – said he would probe the matter.
On Sunday General Masemola said the police initially visited the addresses provided by the Advocate Teffo to execute the warrant of arrest, but he could not be located.
“After being made aware that Advocate Teffo was appearing in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, the investigating officer in the matter consulted the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP),” said General Masemola.
“Following the advice of the DPP, the investigating officer would execute the warrant of arrest upon the adjournment of the matter so as not to disrupt the court proceedings in a separate matter, where the advocate is representing four of the five accused.”
General Masemola said while the intention was to execute the warrant outside the courtroom, the manner in which the events unfolded made it challenging for the team.
“According to the investigating officer, as soon as the court adjourned, the investigating officer approached the Advocate who was making his way towards the court door,” said General Masemola.
“It is important to highlight that after informing the advocate of the execution of the warrant of arrest and informing him of his rights, the advocate went back into the courtroom.
“The investigating officer then followed him back inside the courtroom in a bid to ensure that the latter complies with the contents of the warrant of arrest.
“Advocate Teffo did not cooperate with the investigating officer which warranted the call for the assistance of the Tactical Response Team members who were already posted in the same court for escort duties.”
General Masemola said police have a responsibility to arrest a suspect to secure his/her attendance in court.
“Therefore, the execution of the warrant of arrest in this instance was the initiative of the Investigating Officer in consultation with his commander, which forms part of the members’ daily duties,” said the general.
He said the warrant of arrest was issued after Advocate Teffo failed to appear before the Hillbrow Magistrate’s Court on several occasions.
General Masemola said Advocate Teffo failed to appear in court on 27 January 2022. The case in which Advocate Teffo is accused of trespassing at a police station, was remanded to 10 February 2022.
“Advocate Teffo was again not in court, and bail was finally forfeited to the state. An instruction was then issued by the court for the warrant of arrest to be executed,” said General Masemola.
After a night in police cells, Advocate Teffo appeared in the Hillbrow Magistrate Court on Friday, 29 April 2022, where he was granted bail “in the interest of justice”.
The case was postponed to 27 May 2022.
For his part Advocate Teffo alleges the charges against him and his arrest are aimed at intimidating him to stop representing the four accused in the Meyiwa murder case.