Cape Town – A mother, who lamented in court about her delinquent son’s behaviour, but was herself caught running an illegal shebeen from home, is to face the music for her own wrong doing, together with her son, later this month.
Both mother and son stood in the dock together on Tuesday, in the Strand District Court, before Magistrate Karen Scheepers.
Because the boy, 16, is a juvenile, he may not be named - but neither can the mother, as this would identify her son.
The boy is charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances, and he and his mother were warned to appear in court again on January 26. As they stood in the dock, the mother complained that her son would not listen to her, and that she had gone to the police often about him. It was not the boy’s first time in court either, she said.
The magistrate questioned her about her own presence in the dock, and it transpired that she had run a shebeen from home – without a license. Which prompted the magistrate to ask her: “If you don’t show respect for the law yourself, how can you expect your son to respect you or the rule of law?”
The magistrate said the charge against the boy was serious, but that the prosecutor conceded that the case against him was not very strong. For this reason, she could not keep him in custody, especially as he was only 16.
The magistrate told the mother that the boy was going home with her, but she added: “You may not run an illegal shebeen, and I am warning you now to stop it.”
She warned the mother that the police would monitor her home regularly. And she warned the boy: “If you cause any further trouble, you will be detained at Bosasa, a place of safety for boys."
In another case in the same court, a woman-beater who gave his fiancé a lashing with a belt, was fined R1 500 or 50 days in prison. Christo Ronald Mohammed, 28, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault. The incident happened on December 18, and he was arrested for it on December 30.
The magistrate warned him: “This is the last time you will be fined for this type of behaviour - the next time it’s prison.”