Ten years of the South African prevention of organised crime act (1999–2009)
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Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Open Society Foundation for South Africa
Abstract
Organised crime2 is one of the main challenges that governments and intergovernmental
organisations3 are grappling with. Its history, consequences and different forms in South
Africa are well documented4 and fall outside the scope of this paper. On 21 January 1999,
the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA)5 came into force. Its preamble recognises,
inter alia, that ‘the South African common law and statutory law fail to deal effectively
with organised crime, money laundering and criminal gang activities, and also fail to keep
pace with international measures aimed at dealing effectively with organised crime, money
laundering and criminal gang activities’. The Act has now been in force for ten years and it
is time to take stock of how the South African courts have shaped its application.
One of the purposes of POCA is to make sure that ‘no person should benefi t from the
fruits of unlawful activities...’6 It is on that basis that the Supreme Court of Appeal has held
that ‘[o]ne should not lose sight of the fact that the purpose of the Act [POCA] is to divest
criminals of the proceeds of their criminal activity and to prevent them from deriving
benefi t from such proceeds’
Description
Keywords
Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA), South Africa, Constitution of the Republic of South Africa
Citation
Mujuzi, J.D . Ten years of the South African prevention of organised crime Act(1999-2009) . (2010).Criminal justice initiative of open Society foundation for South Africa