SWAZI SUPREME COURT NEPOTISM FEAR

A raft of appointments of judges to Swaziland’s Supreme Court has raised questions about nepotism in the kingdom ruled by absolute monarch, King Mswati III.

Even one of the newspapers in Swaziland that he in effect owns has raised doubts about the wisdom of appointing judges who are related to one another.

And, the Swazi Attorney-General Majahenkhaba Dlamini has been appointed a temporary Supreme Court judge for the month of July 2015, raising questions about the independence from government of the judiciary.

On Friday (26 June 2015), seven acting judges to the Supreme Court were announced, which the Sunday Observer newspaper reported, ‘resulted in the kingdom’s judiciary turning into a close knit family affair of spouses and siblings’.

The newspaper reported, ‘Newly-appointed Judge of the Supreme Court Majahenkhaba Dlamini joins his wife High Court Judge Mumcy Dlamini as members of the judiciary.

‘Former High Court Judge Qinisile Mabuza and her brother Sipho Nkosi have both been appointed Judges of the Supreme Court – the latter’s appointment is on an acting basis while the former’s is permanent.

‘There is also High Court Judge Nkululeko Hlophe whose wife is Supreme Court Registrar and Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Secretary Lorraine Hlophe.

‘With Majahenkhaba and his wife Judge Mumcy, questions have been raised on what would happen should the former, in his capacity as acting Supreme Court Judge, find himself having to review cases that were decided by the latter at the High Court.

‘There are suggestions that there are strong possibilities of this scenario coming true.’

There are also concerns that some of the new judges might not be suitably qualified.

The Observer reported, ‘A senior judicial expert who spoke to the Sunday Observer, though stating clearly not being opposed to the appointments, was worried that Acting Judges Nkosi and Cloete were appointed straight to the Supreme Court without any experience of presiding in the lower courts, especially the High Court.

‘“There is a lot that they need to learn, which they can do by presiding at the High Court before they are elevated to the Supreme Court,” said the expert.’

 The appointment of Attorney-General Majahenkhaba Dlamini to the Supreme Court for one month has raised doubts about King Mswati’s commitment to the separation of powers between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. 

Dlamini is a member of the Swazi Government that was hand-picked by King Mswati, an ex-official member of the House of Assembly and now a judge. That gives him a place in all three branches of government.

The full list of Supreme Court Judges:

• Acting Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala

• Dr. Ben Odoki JA

• Justice Stanley Maphalala JA

• Justice Jacobus Annandale JA

• Justice Qinisile Mabuza JA

• Justice Mbutfo Mamba JA

• AG Majahenkhaba Dlamini JA

• Lawyer Robert Cloete AJA

• Lawyer Sipho Nkosi AJA

LITTLE EVIDENCE AGAINST JUDGE

Times of Swaziland

3 October 2011

SOURCE

Registrars gave evidence against Judge Masuku

MBABANE – Fired High Court Judge, Thomas Masuku, was convicted based solely on evidence presented by High Court Registrar, Mpendulo Simelane and Supreme Court Registrar, Lorraine Hlophe.

Our investigations have uncovered that the complainant against Masuku during the hearing on August 11, 2011 was Simelane.

Hlophe only gave supporting evidence on only one of the charges that Masuku was facing.

Apart from the submissions of these two, no other evidence was presented against Masuku.

The hearing came after Masuku was suspended at the end of June for misconduct. Twelve charges were preferred against him but five were dropped on the day of the hearing.

While it was Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi who laid the charges against Masuku, on the date of the hearing it was Simelane who sought to substantiate them.

Chief Justice Ramodibedi chaired the hearing.

To read the full Times of Swaziland report, click here

See also

AMNESTY: REINSTATE JUDGE MASUKU

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/amnesty-reinstate-judge-masuku.html

JUDGE NOW ‘OFFICIALLY’ SUSPENDED

High Court Judge Thomas Masuku has now officially been instructed that he is suspended from the bench with immediate effect.

One source says he has been told the suspension is ‘indefinite’, although under Swaziland’s Constitution judges cannot be suspended for longer than three months. Masuku had a letter delivered to his home on Thursday (30 June 2011).

Masuku seems to have accepted the instruction and is no longer working at the High Court.

Masuku, is being accused by Swaziland Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi of ‘insulting’ King Mswati III and ‘actively associating with those who want to bring about unlawful change to the regime’ – that is associating with pro-democracy activists.

A disciplinary hearing has been set for 11 August 11 2011 before the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). CJ Ramodibedi, who has tabled the accusations against Masuku, which include defying directives of the CJ and ‘touting’ to become chief justice himself, is expected to chair the hearing himself.

In a previous letter sent to Masuku by the chief justice, he was told that he was being suspended in accordance with section 158 (3) of the Swaziland Constitution. This says that a judge can be suspended by the king, acting on the advice of the chief justice.

Secretary of the JSC Lorraine Hlophe is reported in the Swazi News today (2 July 2011) saying, ‘I can confirm that the judge has been suspended. According to the legal instrument, the suspension is indefinite. However, the country’s Constitution stipulates that a suspension of a judge should not exceed three months. I am sure that the matter will be determined soon after completion of investigations.’

See also

SWAZI JUDGE REFUSES SUSPENSION

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/07/swazi-judge-refuses-suspension.html