Legislation allowing for the detention of state witnesses in political trials until the completion of the court proceedings is now incorporated into the Internal Security Act (Section 12B (3)) as well as the Criminal Procedure Act (Section 185(4)).
Introducing the amendment, the Minister of Justice said that the previous clauses in both laws provided for witnesses to be detained for up to six months. "However, a definite shortcoming has been experienced in the practical application of these provisions in that essential witnesses have sometimes to be released before they can give evidence. There is no control over the length of time a criminal case may take. Witnesses are often subjected to long cross-examination and there are regular adjournments, for example, to give counsel an opportunity to consult. In this way a trial can take longer than six months and thus the very object of detaining witnesses can be rendered futile."
Under the amendment, contained in the Criminal Procedure Act (No. 79 of 1978, gazetted 2.6.78) state witnesses can be held until the trial is over only if it begins within six months of their detention under that Act. Many are, however, detained under other laws, and transferred to Criminal Procedure detention when a case is about to begin.
