Times Of Swaziland: ‘JUDGES SHOULD TAKE ALCOHOL TESTS’

‘JUDGES SHOULD TAKE ALCOHOL TESTS’
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 BY SIBONGILE SUKATI on 16/05/2019 08:52:00


LOBAMBA - Judges and magistrates should undergo breath tests before they preside
over matters.
This was the strong view of Mangcongco Member of Parliament (MP) Oneboy
Zikalala.
MP Zikalala said some of the judgments issued by judicial officers left a lot to
be desired and he wondered if there was an instrument to check if they were
sober or not when they presided over matters.
This transpired yesterday during the sitting of the Public Accounts Committee
(PAC) where the Judiciary, represented by the Registrar of the Supreme Court,
Lungile Msimango, appeared.
The crux of the matter was that the courts had a lot of cases which had not been
heard dating back to 10 years ago.
The PAC was particularly concerned about the fact that about 47 civil servants
were currently on suspension with full pay amounting to E16 million which was a
cost to government for employees who were getting paid without doing any work.
It was at this point that the Mangcongco MP asked why the courts did not have
any backlogs on cases involving drink-driving offences.
“Why do you expedite them so quickly and instead of making these cases drag
for years, you are the ones who quickly let these people get off the hook?”
asked MP Zikalala.
In response, Msimango tried to state that the reason that they had a backlog on
other cases, especially at the magistrates courts was that the magistrates also
had to visit circuit courts in the various regions of the country.
However, Zikalala said it was unfortunate that at the moment, there were about
47 civil servants who were being paid while on suspension and their matters were
not being heard.
He said this had cost government a loss of about E16 million in salaries and
over E500 000 in housing allowances.
“Is there an instrument to check the judge or magistrate himself if he is
sober or not because sometimes they really give the wrong rulings?” asked
Zikalala.
He was supported by Chairperson of the PAC, MP Phila Buthelezi, who asked why
drink-drivers seemed to get special treatment.
MP Zikalala asked why drink-driving cases did not drag for years, particularly
because there was not much money involved in their prosecution.
As if on a roll, the Mangcongco MP submitted that alcohol or hangover symptoms
seemed to also spill into the Master’s Office as the service was also wanting.
He said civil servants at the Master’s Office were also very rude,
particularly at the Manzini Branch.
Hangovers
“It is like they come to work with hangovers (baneli bhabhalazi) because they
are very rude,” said Zikalala.
He said the government officers made fools out of people who had come for
genuine assistance.
On the drink-driving cases, the MP wondered who was present to supervise the
judicial officers to ensure that they were not intoxicated when they heard
matters, especially since some of them were on duty very early in the morning.
In defence of the Judiciary, High Court Registrar Siphiwo Masuku said for
example in 2018, they had asked for more posts of judicial officers to preside
over cases, especially in the magistrates courts. Masuku said, however in 2018,
they were given only three posts for magistrates.
“For example, in the criminal department, we had matters that dated back to
2001, but now we are happy to announce that the backlog only starts in 2012,”
said Masuku.
She said similarly with civil matters, the cases only dated back to 2009.
Masuku said the challenge was that even though acting judges were hired to
minimise the backlog, the judicial officers did not have support staff in the
form of secretaries, clerks or interpreters. “On the issue of drink-driving,
the law is strict that such matters should be heard within 48 hours and it is
not like we are giving them special treatment,” said Masuku.
However, MP Zikalala was adamant that drink-driving suspects really received
special treatment when government should be concentrating on more serious issues
which cost government financial losses.
MP Zikalala said he was deeply concerned if the judges themselves were sober.
He again brought up the subject when the Auditor General revealed that about
E834 000 worth of cheques from the Guardian Fund under the Master’s Office had
not been claimed until they expired
.
Work
He claimed that this was because the officers at the Master’s office went to
work with hangovers.
This was particularly after an accounts officer at the office of the Master gave
an excuse that some of the beneficiaries did not claim the money because they
feared that they would be haunted by the deceased owners of the estates.
“Others do not claim the money because they fear that batopokelwa (they will
be haunted) by the deceased,” said the accounts officer.
MP Zikalala said the Master’s Office should engage in means like radio
announcements to try and trace beneficiaries instead of allowing cheques to go
unclaimed for over a year.
The Judiciary said it was looking at means of trying to send the money to
beneficiaries through banks instead of issuing cheques.