Five years in jail for man who made hoax bomb threat to skip work
The Bellville regional court on Monday convicted Ferdinand Fortuin, 50, who had contacted the Bellville police on Sunday, November 10 2024, telling them he had planted bombs at the department of water & sanitation offices, Transnet Park building and the Bellville taxi rank.
'He gave police hours to evacuate the premises. The accused made these threats after heavy drinking on Sunday and decided that he did not want to go to work on Monday, November 11, 2024,' National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said.
Fortuin left his home in Mamre with the hope that the roads leading to Bellville would be closed because of his bomb threats.
'They were not and he worked the whole day.'
In his plea and sentencing agreement, Fortuin confessed he had bought a cellphone from a drug user, which he used to make hoax calls to the police and a toll-free emergency number regarding the placement of explosive devices in the buildings, including the one where he worked.
This resulted in the deployment of substantial state resources and the evacuation of thousands of people from the sites he mentioned.
At the water & sanitation department offices on Voortrekker Road, police — assisted by three bomb disposal technicians, the K-9 Dog Unit using explosive detection canines and visible policing unit members — evacuated 164 people. Meanwhile, 151 people were evacuated from the department's Bellville South offices.
Police also evacuated 250 people from the Transnet Park Building offices, and 3,000 people were evacuated from the taxi rank.
'The taxi rank was closed and roads leading to and out of the taxi rank were closed, resulting in huge panic in the area.'
Fortuin was arrested and charged with four counts of contravening the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorism and Related Activities Act (Pocdatara) and for contravening the Explosives Act.
The prescribed minimum sentence for contravening Pocdatara is 15 years' imprisonment unless the court finds substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed sentence.
'He was convicted on three counts of Pocdatara and, for purposes of sentencing, the charges were taken together and he was sentenced to five years' direct imprisonment.'
The court found that he was a first offender, he had pleaded guilty, had strong personal circumstances, had shown remorse and his acknowledgment of guilt made him a good candidate for a rehabilitative sentence.
'The NPA accepts the sentence of the court and warns that anyone who makes such threats will face tough consequences,' Ntabazalila said.
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