The Justice Department is disturbed and condemns the alleged rape of a member of the public by Clerk of the Small Claims Court in his office on 19 August 2014 at the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court.
The member of the public, who cannot be named due to the sensitivity of the case, had approached the court official for assistance. The court official is alleged to have attempted to solicit a bribe and when she refused he allegedly locked his office and raped her. He was arrested shortly after the incident and appeared in court today, 21 August 2014. He was denied bail and his case was postponed to Thursday, 28 August 2014 where he will be facing a second charge of corruption.
The Palm Ridge Magistrates Court is one of the courts that have the State of the Art Sexual Offences Courts which were re-introduced in August 2013.
We are mindful of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty but it is really disturbing that our own officials who are expected to be serving members of the public and enforce the law, are facing such serious charges especially committed during working hours in our offices. The department has already served him with a suspension letter and disciplinary action will follow while we allow the law to take its course.
In order to ensure fairness to the case and complainant we have arranged for a prosecutor and magistrate from another Magisterial District to handle both bail proceedings and subsequent trial. The complainant was taken to Katlehong Thutuzela Care Centre where she received counselling and will be getting all the necessary support until she has fully recovered from the trauma.
We assure members of the public that this is an isolated incident that does not reflect a general conduct of our court officials.
Enquiries:
Advocate Mthunzi Mhaga
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services
Cell: 083 641 8141
