CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND EVIDENCE ACT 58A Continued retention of seized articles if institution of criminal proceedings is delayed (1) If within twenty-one working days from the date— (a) when an article was seized and receipt therefor was given (provided that the date shown on the receipt shall be determinative if it is dated later than the day of seizure); or (b) when a person referred to in section 49(3) receives a receipt for any article previously seized from him or her; no prosecution of an offence in respect of which the seized article is required as an exhibit is initiated, that is to say— (c) no summons is issued to the accused person for the prosecution of the offence; or (d) no statement of the charge is lodged with the clerk of the magistrates court before which the accused is to be tried, where the offence is to be tried summarily; or (e) no indictment has been served upon the accused person, where the person is to be tried before the High Court; then the seized article shall (unless the article in question is one whose possession is intrinsically unlawful) as soon as possible be returned by the police officer who detained it, or by any other person acting in his or her stead, to the premises, place, vehicle, vessel or aircraft from which it was removed or, where that is impracticable, be availed for collection at such place as the police officer shall direct the owner or possessor thereof to go, unless the police officer earlier, upon at least seventy-two hours’ notice to the owner or possessor thereof, serves upon him or her a written notice of continued retention of the seized article, in which the police officer shall— (f) affirm that investigations relating to the offence in respect of which the seized article is required as an exhibit are ongoing and are being actively pursued without undue delay; and (g) afford the owner or possessor thereof an opportunity to lodge at a specified police station a written objection to the retention of the article within forty-eight hours of the date of issuance of the notice of continued retention; and if no such objection is lodged, the seized article may be retained in custody by the police until the pertinent criminal proceedings have been concluded, abandoned or discontinued and the seized article dealt with in accordance with this Part. (2) If the owner or possessor of a seized article is not served with a notice of continued retention after the expiry of the period specified in subsection (1) and no prosecution in respect of the seized article is initiated within that time, then the owner or possessor has the right to recover the article (unless it is one whose possession is intrinsically unlawful) from the police upon mere production of the receipt issued to him or her by a police officer in relation thereto, unless a police officer forthwith delivers to the owner or possessor the notice of continued retention, and subsection (1) shall thereupon apply in relation to such notice. (3) Immediately upon receiving any objection to a notice of continued retention of a seized article, a police officer shall apply for a warrant of further retention of the seized article in terms of subsection (4), upon not less than seven days’ written notice to the owner or possessor thereof, or, if his or her whereabouts or identity cannot be ascertained after due inquiry, upon delivery of the notice to the same person or in the same manner and at the same place as the receipt referred to in section 49(2) was delivered. (4) An application for a warrant of further retention of a seized article shall be made by a police officer to a magistrate or justice (other than a police officer) having jurisdiction over the area where the article was seized, for which purpose the police officer shall swear by affidavit that the seized article (of a description and having the identification number specified in the affidavit) is required in evidence in criminal proceedings and that— (a) investigations in respect thereof are ongoing and are being actively pursued without undue delay; and (b) a full receipt in respect of the article was issued on a specified date; and 38