Peet Viljoen in the dock on Thursday, with his wife Mel Viljoen sitting behind him.
Image: Zelda Venter
Disbarred celebrity lawyer Peet Viljoen will remain behind bars until at least August 17, when the court will determine whether he should be released on bail or not.
The Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria heard legal arguments on Thursday from both the defence and the prosecution regarding bail. Following legal arguments which lasted until late, magistrate Nicca Setshogoe said she needed further documentation from the prosecution in preparation for her judgment.
Viljoen’s lawyer, Andre Steenkamp, meanwhile argued that it is disturbing that the prosecution is opposing bail, as Viljoen voluntarily returned to South Africa knowing that he would be arrested once he landed here. This is clearly a sign that he is not a flight risk, Steenkamp said.
In his plea for bail, Steenkamp said Viljoen is prepared to pay a total of R200,000 bail - R150,000 now and the State can use the other R50,000 on which he was already released 16 years ago.
The court was also told that Viljoen is prepared to remain under house arrest - at the home of his sister in Olympus, Pretoria - and he will report daily to the police if the court orders this.
Viljoen, who looked slightly more upbeat at the start of the proceedings than during his previous appearances, seemed less so upon hearing that he will have to remain in Kgosi Mampuru Prison for at least three more weeks.
He was taken to prison following his arrest at OR Tambo International Airport when he was deported from America on June 16. Viljoen is facing 400 charges, including fraud, theft, corruption, forgery and uttering, linked to an alleged R27,6 million Johannesburg Property Company property fraud scheme.
The prosecution is vehemently opposing bail and argued that Viljoen is a flight risk and it will not be in the interest of justice to release him. But Steenkamp said it's clear that Viljoen intended to face the music.
“He returned, yet he knew he would be arrested. This is not a man who is a flight risk. It's true that a US court deported him, but he begged for it. He was deported as he asked for it,” Steenkamp said. In an earlier recording presented to court regarding the extradition proceedings before a US judge, Viljoen at first asked to return voluntarily to South Africa. When the judge refused, Viljoen asked to be deported. He told the judge that he would “die” in the US immigration detention centre known as ICE.
According to Steenkamp, Viljoen and his wife Mel went legally to the United States and they were legally there. Their lawyers in the USA were busy dealing with their application to extend their visa when they were arrested for shop theft, the defence told the court.
Steenkamp also pointed out that the theft and corruption charges Viljoen is now once again facing have been hanging over his head for the past 16 years. He asked whether Viljoen must now indefinitely remain in jail until the new trial starts.
Van Zyl, in arguing that Viljoen is a flight risk, said Viljoen openly, as per his social media posts, earlier said he would never return to South Africa. He also referred to the “audacity” of Viljoen, who openly criticised South Africa, its people and the government, yet defended this by stating it is his constitutional right to speak his mind.
“Is this the actions of an educated man?” Van Zyl questioned. He told the court that Viljoen’s conduct since he left South Africa is troublesome. “How he got back is a drama on its own. We can never forget he was sent back. Common sense tells us his release is not in the interest of justice,” Van Zyl said.