Legendary Oberholzer public prosecutor retires
She can write a book about her experiences, and was already prosecuting when the town was like the wild west.
Tomorrow (August 30) will be Elize Smith’s last day in office at the Oberholzer Court.
Smith, who turned 65 years old yesterday (August 28) started her legal career at the then Department of Cooperative Governance on December 8, 1980, shortly after she finished her B Juris degree at the then Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education. This former learner of Hoërskool Fochville started working as prosecutor at the Oberholzer Court in 1984. She occupied various positions during this time, ranging from prosecutor in the Magistrate’s Court to Managing Prosecutor in the Regional Court.
“I wanted to become a prosecutor since childhood, because I wanted to see justice being done. I was taught to never step on someone who is on the ground,” says Smith.
Through the years Smith had seen the true face of crime in Carletonville. She had also been the prosecutor in some of the town’s most notorious criminal cases.
“I can remember when it was still like the wild west in Carletonville and people used to shoot each other in front of bars over the weekends,” she says.
Smith was the prosecutor in the case where a local attorney and member of parliament, Fanie van Vuuren, had been prosecuted for the murder of his wife, Hermien in the early 1990s. He was later found not guilty, but took his own life a decade later. Another case that Smith will always remember was the one where a woman from Carletonville, Amanda Nel, was found guilty of culpable homicide after killing her newborn baby boy in a toilet at the former Sybrandt van Niekerk Hospital.
“Court work has always been challenging, but I loved cross-examining witnesses and seeing how a criminal’s version of events falls apart. I really have a passion for my work and it is sad that I have to retire now,” says the energetic Smith, who has always looked years younger than she actually is.
Through the years she has also seen several police officers, many of whom she worked with and knew well, end up behind bars for corruption. In one case a group of policemen who was sent to watch the Truworths Man clothing store after a robbery, ended up stealing goods from the business and were sentenced for it. Smith also remembers an incident where a prisoner bit off a part of a court official’s ear and then robbed him. Through the years one or two suspects have also gotten hold of firearms and had tried to shoot their way out of the court buildings. In one such incident in Fochville a bullet hit the wall in the courtroom just behind where Smith and the magistrate were sitting. Luckily neither of them were hit and they simply had to continue with their work.
Her last case was the one last month where several former employees of Sibanye-Stillwater were sentenced for gold theft. The case took 10 years to complete due to, among other things, delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that several of the suspects came from neighbouring countries.
Despite all the action, Smith believes that there are some people who continue to be wronged, because they have the misconception that the legal system will not be able to help them.
“I want more people to seek justice in domestic violence cases and also for children. Many victims do not realise that they can come to court and ask for help,” she says.
Although her work as prosecutor is now ending, Smith believes that she still has many good years left by helping in the legal profession in some or other way. She plans to join her son, André at Smith Quass Attorneys in Fochville.
