It was an arduous task.

Collecting the signatures was time consuming but public support was freely forthcoming once people were made to see that the Prevention of Organized Crime Act has been used by the state to attack an innocent man and his family.

The state has used this law to attack Simon Prophet but at the same time and with shameless disregard the state has also attacked his family and when children are made homeless under the disguise of crime prevention then any such action coming from the state is as unforgivable as the enforcement of the laws of apartheid. 

Democratically speaking then we can conclude that civil asset forfeiture is not OK and also that the Prevention of Organized Crime Act of 1998 is unconstitutional.

To see the signatures CLICK HERE

Prophet has spoken to all the people who have signed the register of petitions and he expresses his deep gratitude to all who have shown their courage to come forward and support the recovery of his home and he also says thank you to those who have included him in their prayers.

A survey that canvasses a pool of 10 000 people is considered by market research companies to be extensive and is deemed to be relatively accurate in terms of how the general public think. A one question market research survey from a pool of 10 000 people would cost between R35 000 and R95 000.

10 000 people signed this petition and one can comment that it is biased because it does not reveal how many people support civil forfeiture but their numbers are indeed few and of the people that Prophet has spoken to, they number less than three for every one thousand people contacted (0,3%). Even if we add Willie Hofmeyr's entire staff of the Asset Forfeiture Unit and the 17 civil court judges who ruled against Prophet then the number of people who agree that his home be forfeited is still insignificant in terms of public opinion.

We live in a constitutional democracy and the right to express ourselves is a supreme right and it gladdens us to see that when people have the time then they do engage and if this petition is anything to go by then yes, our democracy is working and even though we may not be free to do everything, at least we are free to say what we want.

One person argued that even if Prophet had been found "not guilty" then that did not confirm that he is innocent and in the quantum field of possibilities we can all agree with him but we must also admit that, in South Africa, when we are accused of criminal conduct then we must remember that supreme non-derogable  law dictates that we are "presumed innocent" until proven otherwise and therefore, in the context of South Africa, it follows as a matter of fact that if you have been acquitted of criminal wrongdoing  in a criminal court of law then you are therefore undeniably innocent and so it goes without saying that civil asset forfeiture in the face of a "not guilty" verdict is unconstitutional.