Durban court rules arrest of attorney and prosecutor unlawful, finds police acted without legal authority

Shameer Goolabjith.

The Durban Regional Court has found that the arrest and detention of attorney Shabeer Goolabjith and prosecutor Kelvin Raymond Munsamy were unlawful.

Acting Regional Court Magistrate Fiona Seedat ruled that the Minister of Police failed to justify the arrests and subsequent detention of the pair, who instituted civil claims against the state following their arrest in August 2019.

The matter stems from a corruption investigation linked to a 2016 fraud probe. During a search of Goolabjith’s legal offices, police seized electronic devices and later identified WhatsApp messages they believed indicated corrupt dealings between Goolabjith and Munsamy.

Based on those messages, police opened a corruption case and referred it to the Provincial Anti-Corruption Unit, working alongside prosecutors from the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office.