By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola says the law must be allowed to take its course following the appearance of suspended Pretoria Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
Nair appeared in the court on charges of corruption after allegations were made at the State Capture Commission that he had accepted a bribe from African Global Operations (formerly known as Bosasa) in the form of a security system worth some R200 000.
It is the State’s contention that Nair received gratification in the form of an electric fence, an alarm system, perimeter beams and a CCTV system from Operations/Global Technology Systems in September 2016 at his Pretoria Silverton home.
“All persons are equal before the law, whether they are lay persons or officers of the court. The law must now take its course, as it would in every criminal case. Justice must not only be done, but manifestly be seen to be done,” Lamola said.
The Ministry explained that Nair is also facing internal misconduct proceedings as provided for in the Magistrates Act, 1993 and the Code of Judicial Conduct for Magistrates. The criminal charges “will be decided by a court of law”.
“There are two stages to misconduct proceedings. There is, firstly, an internal investigation conducted by the Magistrates Commission. Thereafter, there is a Parliamentary procedure. The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, on advice of the Magistrates Commission, provisionally suspended Nair on 24 February 2020.
“Thereafter a report was submitted to Parliament to pass a resolution as to whether or not the provisional suspension can be confirmed…[and] Parliament confirmed the suspension of Nair and the misconduct proceedings instituted by the Magistrates Commission against him are in progress ” the department said.
Furthermore, the department added that the ministry is concerned with the protracted period it takes for the Magistrate’s Commission to conclude misconduct proceedings.
“The Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, John Jeffery, has on numerous occasions expressed his concerns to the Magistrates Commission regarding delays in misconduct proceedings against magistrates,” the department said.
Nair was not the only high-profile preson to get security upgrades from Bosasa. In 2019, Richard le Roux, former Bosasa IT specialist, told the commission that former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi instructed him to oversee security installations at Nair’s Pretoria home and those of other ministers, including Gwede Mantashe and Nomvula Mokonyane.
The Bosasa matter is back in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes court on Tuesday, 18 October. The Nair matter has been postponed to 7 December 2022 for the defence to make representations.