Former State Prosecutor Advocate Gerrie Nel says more court cases should be televised as was the case with the Oscar Pistorius trial.
Nel was a guest speaker at a business breakfast in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday morning where he spoke about his new venture in public prosecutions.
Nel says when DSTV first served them with papers to broadcast the trial, he and defence Advocate Barry Roux were dead set against it.
Now, in hindsight, he says it is probably the best thing that could have happened.
Advocate Nel says in the weeks leading up to the trial some people were under the impression that South Africa makes use of a jury system, which is obviously not the case.
He says for many people, the Oscar Pistorius trial was their first time seeing the inside of a South African courtroom and how it works.
Nel says he is surprised that the murder case against Henri van Breda is not being televised as people need to be able to decide for themselves - as was the case with Oscar Pistorius.
Advocate Nel was asked to explain why some people, like Oscar, was sentenced to 6 years for murder, while others get life for crimes like rape.
He says it is important for people to understand that the law is not a case but rather a process. "What happened with the Oscar matter, we were unhappy with the judgment and took it further. We are unhappy with the sentence, we are taking it further, it will be addressed in the Supreme Court of Appeal later and I am sure we will get a sentence that is just in these circumstances. The main thing for people to understand is that the law is not a case but a process and I trust the process 100%. It might take time. At the end of the journey if you get to justice it is all worth it."
Nel added that if you look at a bail application it is important for people to put themselves in the shoes of an accused when deciding if he deserves bail or not. He highlighted the recent bail hearing of two farmers from Coligny in North West who are accused of the murder of a 16-year-old teenager as well as the case last year in Mpumalanga where two farmers were accused of putting a man in a coffin.
Both these bail hearings were televised live on ENCA.
