The case of the nine Robben Island prisoners who appealed to the courts for access to lawyers following an assault by prison dogs came up again in March, when the Minister of Prisons appealed against a Supreme Court order.
In August 1977 Cape Town Supreme Court ruled that the Commissioner of Prisons acted incorrectly in refusing the prisoners access to legal advice and referred the matter back to the Commissioner for the 'proper exercise of his discretion'. The Minister's appeal was countered by a cross-appeal by the prisoners that the referral was wrong since on a proper interpretation of prison regulations, the Commissioner had no discretion to refuse permission for legal advice. The prisoners involved—Saths Cooper, Maitshwe Mokoape, Strini Moodley, Gilbert Sedibe, Justice Myeza, Bertram Gonsalves, Rudolf Knight, Joseph Plaatjies and Owen Stuurman—asked for an order granting them access to their lawyers. Judgement was reserved.
