That small court room
By Siyabonga Sayi I had a short stint as a fulltime journalist after I finished university education. During my time in the newsroom, one experience stood out. Every time I think of it, I recall it as if it were yesterday. On certain days I would linger around the court room to easily get court stories for publication. On this particular day I attended a High Court session. I was with a colleague, we sat in there and the first case to be heard was a murder case. A man had been accused of killing his friend and had spent more than a year in remand prison as his case was pending investigations. As the alleged crime was read out to the court, the accused was seated on an old bench in a box while two armed prison guards vigilantly stood his side. For almost all of the time his gaze was down, away from the people and barely did he look at the audience that was in the court room. It seemed to me that he was in a lot of pain, regret and shame. He did not find the bravery to l...