Judge Mandela Makaula has “unconditionally and sincerely” apologised for remarks he made about legal practitioners in Mthatha during the recent interviews for the post of deputy judge president of the Eastern Cape before the Judicial Service Commission.
The Dispatch reported that responding to questions from chief justice Mandisa Maya and Eastern Cape acting judge president Zamani Nhlangulela, Makaula acknowledged that the Gqeberha and Makhanda high court divisions usually ran smoothly.
But he said the Mthatha high court presented an enormous problem, was a thorn in the side of the province and required a complete overhaul, including the registrar’s office and legal practitioners.
“In Mthatha, it is different. You can’t trust anyone in Mthatha. Not unless you know them.”
Makaula said after the interview several law bodies publicly condemned his statements.
To resolve the matter, Makaula said on Thursday, he had mandated advocate Dali Mpofu SC to represent him in meetings and further consultations with representatives from various law bodies, which had raised their concerns, including in the public domain.
“I hereby withdraw the remarks I made. I also publicly, unconditionally and sincerely apologise for those remarks, which were unfairly uttered without providing justification or evidence.
“I particularly regret painting all Mthatha [legal] practitioners with the same brush and making an unfair comparison by suggesting the practitioners in Gqeberha conduct themselves better than those in Mthatha.”
After extensive deliberations, Makaula said he had been informed that most of the participating parties had welcomed the step he took and agreed to a mutually negotiated resolution of the matter.
The engagements had also resulted in a number of key commitments.
“Henceforth, any future concerns I have will be addressed through internal channels rather than by raising them in the public domain.”
He said this would be done to maintain mutual respect between judges and legal practitioners and to be part of the solution in respect of any underlying challenges facing the division.
He had been informed that the participating law bodies expressed their hope that this would be the last incident of its sort.
The acting judge president and the acting deputy judge president of the Eastern Cape were consulted and apprised of these developments before his statement was publicly released.
TimesLIVE
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