Bellville man sentenced to 5 years for hoax bomb threats

News24

a day ago

A Bellville man's attempt to avoid work backfired spectacularly, landing him in prison for five years.
Nursing a hangover and unwilling to face his job, the man decided to make hoax bomb threats as an excuse to stay home.
What seemed like a clever way to skip work turned into a costly mistake - instead of a day off, he earned himself a lengthy prison sentence.
The case serves as a stark reminder that elaborate excuses can lead to serious legal consequences.
The Bellville Regional Court has sentenced Ferdinand Fortuin to five years' direct imprisonment after he contacted the police, telling them that he had planted bombs at the Department of Water and Sanitation, Transnet Offices, and the Bellville taxi rank.
According to the NPA, he gave the police hours to evacuate the premises. The accused made these threats following heavy drinking on Sunday, 10 November 2024, and decided that he did not want to go to work on Monday, 11 November 2024.
He 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.
The NPA further states that, in his plea and sentencing agreement, Fortuin confessed that he bought a cell phone 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, of which one was where he worked.
The 50-year-old is said to have contacted the Bellville Police Station on 11 November 2024, informing officers that he had placed explosive devices at the Bellville Department of Water and Sanitation offices, the Transnet Park Building and the Bellville Taxi Rank.
This resulted in the deployment of substantial state resources and the evacuation of thousands of people from the three sites. At the Water and 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, assisted by the same units, 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.
He was arrested and charged with four counts of contravention of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorism and Related Activities Act 33 of 2004 (POCDATARA) and for contravention of the Explosives Act 26 of 1956.
The prescribed minimum sentence is 15 years' direct 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 acknowledgement of guilt made him a good candidate for a rehabilitative sentence.
The NPA accepted the sentence of the court and warned that anyone who makes such threats will face tough consequences.