When will Peet and Melany Viljoen be deported back to SA? An expert weighs in

A legal expert has suggested thatReal Housewives of Pretoriastar Mel Viljoen and her husband, Peet, may be deported from the United States, but not right away. The Viljoens, whofled South Africa last yearamid fraud accusations and a disbarment hanging over their heads, werereportedly arrested this week after shoplifting goodsworth more than $5 300 (about R87 800). “Over the course of the last six months, the Viljoens have worked in concert during multiple acts of retail theft,” noted a police report.

The couple allegedly stated they were stealing because they were in survival mode and had not worked since coming to the country, due to not having visas. They were reportedly booked into the Main Detention Centre in West Palm Beach, Florida, facing felony charges of organised retail theft, with a bond of $10 000 each. Dr Llewelyn Curlewis, an attorney and senior lecturer in criminal and procedural law at the University of Pretoria, toldThe Citizenon Thursday that the charges against the Viljoens were serious and would likely result in them being sent back to South Africa.

“Usually, how it works is you commit a crime, then you first have to go through a court case and be found guilty, and then you have to be punished. “Depending on what punishment is given, they can deport you immediately if they want to save money instead of keeping you there, or they can first insist that you serve your sentence and, after you have served it, deport you back to your country of origin,” he explained. He said it is possible that, if found guilty, a US court could wait until the couple had served part of their sentence before sending them back.

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‘All of those options are possible. It is a prerogative within that country’s discretion. Usually, you have to serve your sentence for a while first because they make an example of you and have deterrent value to future foreign criminals.”

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