The Bellville Regional Court earlier this month sentenced Ferdinand Fortuin to five years’ direct imprisonment after he contacted the police, telling them that he had planted bombs at three locations in Belville. He gave police hours to evacuate the premises. Fortuin is a divorced father of two children living in Mamre, and working in Bellville.
According to Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in the Western Cape, he 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.” 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, one of which was where he worked. The 50-year-old contacted the Bellville Police Station on 11 November 2024. He informed 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. He then disposed of the cell phone so it could not be tracked back to him.
Ntabazalila confirmed that 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 evacuating 164 people. Meanwhile, another 151 people were evacuated from the department’s Bellville South offices. Police also evacuated 250 people from the Transnet Park Building offices, and at least 3,000 people were evacuated from the taxi rank. The area and roads leading to and out of the taxi rank were closed, resulting in widespread panic in the area.
According to the spokesperson, Fortuin 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.” Ntabazalila said the NPA accepts the sentence of the court and warns that anyone who makes such threats will face tough consequences. “The NPA will not hesitate to prosecute conduct of this nature to the full extent that the law allows,” he added.
