Judges Matter, which monitors the country’s judicial system, has welcomed Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng’s apology following his outburst last week Thursday at the Pretoria High Court which is hearing the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial.
Mokgoatlheng has issued a public apology after a courtroom outburst at the legal representative of accused one and two, Advocate Charles Mnisi making comments that some deemed racist.
He became furious when Mnisi asked to be excused from the court proceedings on Monday, to accommodate his travel plans from the Comrades Marathon which was held on Sunday.
Judges Matter’s Senior Researcher Zikhona Ndlebe told You FM Newshour that Mokgoatlheng was within his rights to raise a concern around any plans to further delay the case but the way he went about it was incorrect.
“He was correct to raise the fact that this trial has been ongoing for a little over 10 years now and as a result we don’t expect that Advocates involved in the matter would make requests that have a potential of delaying the trial further.
So, he was correct in saying that, however, nothing warrants comments that have racist undertones, especially because we are in a country that has a history of racism, of discrimination and we are still working through that history.
So, the comments the Judge made are unacceptable regardless of what the Advocate had done but that is not to say that the Advocate was also correct in requesting to be excused from court so late when he knew way in advance that the matter would be in court,” Ndlebe explained.
Ndlebe also indicated that the rights of the accused persons must also be respected as they have been in custody for the longest time.
Judges Matter has commended Mokgoatlheng for voluntarily tendering a heartfelt apology to all affected parties, the entire country, his peers in the judiciary including Chief Justice Mandisa Maya, former Chief Justices Raymond Zondo and Mogoeng Mogoeng and former DCJ Dikgang Moseneke amongst others.
“We do believe that the apology was sincere, it was an unreserved apology that he has tendered.
“We’ve seen other judicial officers allow for complaints lodged against them before they could apologise or could have made amends.
“We’ve seen them employing some delaying tactics in the complaints against them, but Judge Mokgoatlheng has not done that when he was called out on his misconduct in court regarding the comments he made, he apologised hence our belief that it was a sincere apology he tendered,” remarked Ndlebe.
Furthermore, Ndlebe said that although they agree that Mokgoatlheng was wrong in making comments that have racist undertones, they don’t believe he should be recused from the matter.
“He pointed out that if any of the Advocates feel that he is biased in the matter, or that he should recuse himself they can make that request or application but at this point we don’t believe there’s anything that warrants his recusal in the matter.
“Yes, he made those racist comments or comments that have racist undertones, and those comments are unacceptable regardless of what caused him to make those comments.
“It’s not the first time that he has made those comments but that is not to say that he should recuse himself from this matter.
“A recusal would be if there’s a perception of bias, at this stage there is no reasonable perception of bias on his part,” concluded Ndebe.
