A senior Western Cape government official will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on a charge of possession of the drug tik.
In April, David McNamara, 48, failed to appear in court and Magistrate Nasha Banwari directed the warrant be stayed until July 3, when McNamara, the provincial community development director, was scheduled to make his eighth court appearance.
His lawyer William Booth told the court McNamara was due for orthopaedic surgery on Saturday, and that the defence had informed the prosecuting authorities earlier in the week that circumstances prevented McNamara's appearance.
Banwari said the warrant would be executed if McNamara failed to appear in court again on July 3.
McNamara was arrested on June 28 last year, in the Cape Town CBD, allegedly in possession of a broken bottle neck, used as a pipe to inhale the fumes of burning the drug tik (crystal methamphetamine), and seven plastic bags containing tik residue.
The magistrate declared his R500 bail provisionally forfeited to the state, and said it would be finally forfeited if McNamara failed to attend the July 3 proceedings.
News of McNamara's arrest and court appearances only surfaced in February, when the provincial community development MEC, Albert Fritz, announced that McNamara had been placed on immediate leave, pending internal proceedings.
The department's special programmes unit, involved in combating drug abuse, was part of McNamara's portfolio. - Sapa
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment