IURI 271 – Assessment 1 – 2024

THIS IS AN INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT. PLEASE FAMILIARISE YOURSELF WITH THE

NWU AND FACULTY POLICIES ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY. WE WILL ALLOW LATE
SUBMISSIONS FOR A LIMITED PERIOD ON THE EFUNDI SITE BUT LATE
SUBMISSIONS WILL WITHOUT MORE BE PENALISED WITH 30% OF THE
ASSESSMENT MARK. WE SHALL NOT ACCEPT E-MAILED SUBMISSIONS. THE
ASSIGNMENT WILL CONTRIBUTE 50% TO THE WEIGHT OF THE TWO
ASSIGNMENTS (ASSESSMNTS 1 AND 4 – SEE ASSESSMENT PLAN). THE TWO
HEADS OF ARGUMENT MUST BE COMBINED INTO A SINGLE WORD DOCUMENT

The police held a roadblock near Lichthenburg. At around 14h00 the police saw a Toyota
Hilux double cab pick-up vehicle that was approaching the roadblock. It suddenly made
a U-turn. A police official followed the vehicle. The Toyota veered off the road into a ditch.
The driver of the Toyota and his passenger exited the vehicle and ran away. The police
were able to arrest the passenger (Innocence Mathebula) but the driver escaped. The
police searched the bakkie and a 9mm pistol was found underneath the driver’s seat. It
later appeared that the vehicle was hijacked at 8h00 that same morning at gunpoint in
Randburg. The owner of the vehicle suffered minor physical injuries when she was
forcibly pulled from the vehicle. She confirms that she was robbed by two persons, but
she would not be able to identify them. Innocence is arraigned in the Randburg
Magistrate’s Court on the following counts:
Count 1: Robbery with aggravating circumstances as defined in section 1 of the Criminal
Procedure Act and read with section 51(2) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of
1977.

Count 2: Contravening section 3 of the Firearms Control Act 60 of 2000 and read with
section 51(2) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1977.

Innocence wants to apply to be released on bail. The prosecutor opposes the application.

During the consultation, Innocence informs his legal representative as follows:

1. He is 32 years old.
2. He is employed as an administration clerk in the South African Police Service.
3. He is the father of a three-year-old daughter. The girl lives with her grandparents,
but he contributes to her maintenance.
4. He does not know anything about the robbery, he just got a lift from the Toyota
driver.
 5. He is renting a room and has lived at the address for the past 5 years (The police
had confirmed his address).
6. In 2018 he was convicted of culpable homicide arising from the negligent driving
of a vehicle (a cyclist died in the accident). He was sentenced to two years of
correctional supervision.

QUESTION 1:
You are the legal practitioner representing Innocence. Prepare heads of argument (not
exceeding eight pages excluding the list of authorities) that you will present to the court
in support of the bail application.

QUESTION 2:

You are the prosecutor. Prepare heads of argument (not exceeding eight pages
(excluding the list of authorities) that you will present to the court to oppose the bail
application.

You will be assessed on:

1. Your understanding of the legal framework.
2. Use of language – conciseness, clarity, grammar, spelling – please use free
versions of Grammarly/Writefull or a similar document checker. Remember,
language is probably the most important tool of your trade.
3. Practise conventions for heads of argument (to be researched by you). Also see
PPTs on eFundi.
4. Originality (one of the gravest dangers is relying on/regurgitating existing examples
without applying your mind to the problem at hand).
5. Coherent and logical arguments/ reasoning focusing on the relevant issues.