No work, no pay for convicted magistrates

Justice Minister Jeff Radebe has broken with state policy by ending the practice of continuing to pay magistrates convicted of serious crimes.

In a report tabled in parliament yesterday, Radebe said he was endorsing the recommendation of the Magistrates' Commission that payment of the salaries of magistrates Dawid Jacobs, Ithumeleng Morake, Collen Dumani, Lefa Maruwa and Michael Masinga be stopped.

In the past, suspended magistrates remained on the payroll even if they had been sentenced for serious crimes, such as fraud or attempted murder, by persuading the Magistrates' Commission that they should not be fired until they had exhausted every opportunity to appeal against their conviction.

The law allows the commission to reduce or stop a magistrate's salary but the justice minister must justify this in parliament.

Radebe's decision has set a precedent with regard to the sanctioning of errant magistrates. And he has broken ranks with the rest of the government, which continues to pay public servants' salaries - at great cost to taxpayers - until their cases are finalised.

Yesterday, Radebe noted that Maruwa's criminal conviction in a regional court on 11 counts of fraud had been confirmed by a full bench of the Pretoria High Court.

"There seems to be no reason why a magistrate who is on provisional suspension and who has been convicted of a serious offence should still be paid for the period during which he or she is provisionally suspended," the justice minister said.

Masinga was convicted of attempted murder after assaulting his wife with a blunt axe, kicking her and threatening to kill her in March 2009. He was charged by the Magistrates' Commission in February 2010 but succeeded in delaying his disciplinary hearing for 21 months by joining a union whose representative failed to show up at two hearings.

Radebe said Masinga intended to appeal against his criminal conviction once he had been sentenced, which would further draw out the litigation.

Payment of Masinga's salary has been stopped.

Jacobs, who was suspended on 10 charges of misconduct after being drunk in court, had asked to be medically boarded. Instead, Radebe stopped his pay.

Dumani, who was found to have molested clerks and cleaners at the court at which he worked, deserved to lose his salary because there was no reason to pay someone who had been found unfit to hold office, Radebe said in his report.

Morake was sentenced in June to eight years in prison for theft and there was no reason to continue to pay him, the minister said.

Despite Radebe's bold move on magistrates, public servants who are suspended continue to receive their salaries pending finalisation of their cases.

Last month, the DA disclosed that, since April 2009, government departments and other state entities had paid at least R93.6-million to senior managers who had been suspended on full pay.

President Jacob Zuma has said that it was "unacceptable" that suspended officials receive full pay while their cases dragged on for years.

Public Service Minister Richard Baloyi said last month that his department was working on new measures to ensure the speedy resolution of disciplinary procedures involving public servants.