NO BAIL, let him rot in jail” – these are familiar words which are always printed on placards which have become constant visitors to our court buildings all over the country. These calls are not only made by ordinary members of the community or activists in the fight against crime, but also come from some in leadership. As a young boy growing up in the rural village of Gatyana and later in the township in Butterworth, I battled to come to terms with a common scenario: witnessing a man stabbing another to death or assaulting his girlfriend on a weekend, and being arrested, but then see him in the street by Monday afternoon. This confusion stemmed from my lack of understanding of the bail process and its purpose. I enrolled for a law degree at the then University of Transkei (now Walter Sisulu University) as a young adult, and during my studies and subsequent practice as a prosecutor, I began to understand the bail process and its significance in protecting the constitutional rights guaranteed for us all. Bail is meant to secure the attendance of an accused person who is facing a criminal offence in court. It can either be...
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