By William Mbangula
ONDANGWA
The criminal case involving the Deputy Sheriff John Adriaan Puleston and the owner of Santorini Inn, Anita Erika Devenish, was postponed to March 11, 2008, for plea and trial.
The duo face charges of theft, fraud and being in possession of stolen goods.
Court sources revealed that Devenish connived with Puleston to sell a car which was parked for a long time at her business premises at Oshakati.
Instead of reporting the presence of an unknown vehicle at the premises, they allegedly placed an advertisement in a newspaper for the car to be collected and after the given period, the duo allegedly arranged a fake auction to dispose of the car.
Reports say that when the car was auctioned, it was Devenish who managed to successfully bid for it. When she went to register the car in her name, it was discovered by the police that the car, a Toyota Venture, was reported stolen from South Africa.
Puleston, 37, the Deputy Sheriff for Oshakati, Outapi and Tsumeb did not attend the court hearing.
The matter, which was heard last Friday, September 14, came before Regional Court Magistrate A.K. Sampson, while Simba Nduna prosecuted.
There has been an outcry by some black messengers of the court that they are always victimised whenever they are suspected of being involved in criminal activities, but no action was taken against Puleston despite the fact that the case against him has been ongoing since January 2003.
Said one disgruntled messenger of the court: “We are being discriminated against by our superiors on the basis of our skin colour. If such a thing was suspected to have been committed by a black person, such a person could have been suspended or possibly fired. But what is happening? The suspect is still at large, doing his work and does not even bother to attend court hearings.”
Commenting on the matter, the President of the Society of Messengers of Courts and Sheriffs, Manfred Hennis, said he was not aware of the case until recently when Puleston called to inform him about the pending matter. He dismissed the allegations of racism, adding that the association has no power to suspend any member. This, he said, is the prerogative of the Chief of the Lower Courts in association with district magistrates.
Besides, if there is any action to be taken by the association, it will have to wait for the outcome of the court proceedings.
Chief of the Lower Courts Petrus Unengu said the matter was reported to him some time this year but the evidence before him does not warrant any action against the suspect.
He said Puleston went to attach the vehicle with a writ of execution given to him by the court and if the car attached was stolen, he could not have known.
According to Unengu, if what he has been told is true, then there is no reason whatsoever to suspect any wrongdoing.
With regard to suspending the suspected messenger of the court, Unengu noted that this should be the domain of the magistrate under whom the person concerned works.