Times Of Swaziland: RAPE-ACCUSED LAWYER LAUNCHES ATTACK ON 2 JUDGES

RAPE-ACCUSED LAWYER LAUNCHES ATTACK ON 2 JUDGES
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Mbongiseni Ndzimandze on 10/07/2023 09:03:00


MBABANE - The lawyer who is accused of sexually violating his children, cousin
and helper has launched an attack on the judges who attended a function where
the DPM was a guest.
The event, which the lawyer is now using as one of his grounds to motivate his
application for the recusal of Judge Sabelo Masuku from presiding over his
matter, was held at Gwamile Apostolic World Faith Church, at KaLuhleko, on May
28, 2023. During the event, the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Themba Masuku was
accompanied by Judge Sabelo, who is his son.
Also present during the service were: Supreme Court Judge Nkululeko Hlophe and
his wife Lorraine, a judge of the Industrial Court, who are both staunch members
of the church.
According to the incarcerated lawyer, it was allegedly not expected of judges of
both the High Court and the Supreme Court to be invited as guests in a political
gathering organised by the executive arm of government without compelling
factors. “Judges should, as a matter  of practice, not  have access to the
public space so that they may not be easily tainted with the dust of factual
conflicts and occurrences that may have the effect of disqualifying them from
sitting in  any matter before court,” alleged the lawyer. Some of those who
were also part of the service were the Minister of Tourism and Environmental
Affairs, Moses Vilakati, and LaMgabhi Member of Parliament (MP) Dumisani
Dlamini.
In his court papers, the lawyer did not take issue with the presence of Judge
Lorraine during the service, but his focus was squarely on Judge Sabelo and
Judge Hlophe. “The deputy prime minister has a naturally close relationship
with the learned judge as his biological son, to the extent that the judge was
seen supporting his father in his (DPM) portfolio duties by attending a function
on May 29, 2023 wherein the DPM was commissioned to thank all those who assisted
government to suppress the political unrest in the country,” argued the
lawyer. He averred that he was not just assuming that Judge Sabelo had a close
relationship with the DPM. Annexed to the application is a copy of a newspaper
article about the event. According to the accused (lawyer), the article
allegedly showed that Judge Sabelo was not slow to attend political gatherings
in support of his father’s portfolio duties. He alleged that the presence of
Judge Sabelo during the event allegedly showed that the relationship he had with
the DPM was very tight.
Assisted
“It is worth noting that the DPM had called this meeting to thank those who
assisted the government to suppress the unrest and it is not known what
contribution was made by both Judge Sabelo and Justice Hlophe of the Supreme
Court to suppress the unrest. Thus I am bound to have a suspicion that Judge
Sabelo may be persuaded to buy into the DPM’s attitude over me,” he argued.
He also brought it to the attention of the court that he tried his luck with the
Supreme Court however, his application for bail was dismissed. These are
allegations whose veracity is still to be tested in court. “May I mention
further that I did try my luck with the Supreme Court, however, my application
was dismissed. I do note that the majority judgment was written by Justice
Hlophe, who was also in attendance during the function, to receive gratitude
from the DPM for whatever contribution the learned judge of appeal may have
offered in the suppression of the unrest,” submitted the accused.
The accused went on to tell the court that, his application for the recusal of
Judge Sabelo had nothing to do with forum shopping but was allegedly based on
genuine grounds.  He said he felt that as a son of the DPM, Judge Sabelo could
easily be influenced by the beliefs and aspirations of the latter to his case
which he (DPM) had expressed publicly, to allegedly see him rot in jail. His
application for the recusal of Judge Sabelo is being opposed by the director of
public prosecution (DPP), who contended that through same, the imprisoned lawyer
was attempting to do what was known as forum shopping. Forum shopping in law is
a colloquial term for the practice of litigants having their case heard in a
court thought most likely to provide favourable judgment.
In his replying papers, the attorney, who cannot be named for ethical reasons,
informed the court that he had a reasonable apprehension of bias that Judge
Sabelo might not bring to bear an impartial mind in deciding his case, because
of his parental relationship with the DPM.  He claimed that the DPM had taken
the issue of his arrest and prosecution as a personal crusade transcending
beyond his constitutional duty, ignoring the divide between the executive and
judicial functions.
Evidence
“I maintain that my apprehension of bias is real and is based on credible
evidence of relationship between the learned trial judge together with proven
determination of the DPM whose portfolio is tasked with enforcing the Sexual
Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act to come with positive results,” he
argued. The lawyer further contended that his application had nothing to do with
forum shopping. The matter is still pending in court and appearing for the
accused is Professor Msibi while Principal Crown Counsel Futhi Gamedze and Crown
Counsel Mncedisi Dlamini are appearing for the prosecution.