The judicial commission of inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system has warned the public after a fresh wave of impersonations of its chairperson, justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
“The commission warns that persons found guilty of attempting to interfere with the work of the chairperson or commissioners are liable to a fine or imprisonment of up to six months,” the commission said.
Commission spokesperson Jeremy Michaels said numerous incidents of individuals posing as Madlanga, including using his photographs and contacting people on WhatsApp, had been reported in recent weeks.
The impersonations go back to Madlanga’s tenure on the Constitutional Court bench.
“As a result, on two occasions, the office of the chief justice issued media statements warning the public of these criminal acts,” said Michaels.
The problem has escalated since Madlanga assumed his role at the commission.
“Since justice Madlanga started at the commission, the impersonation has resumed in earnest. Some communications are calculated to give the impression that the impersonator is the chairperson of the commission. These communications have the potential to tarnish the chairperson’s standing in his personal capacity and in his capacity as chairperson of the commission.”
He said impersonators have targeted a wide range of people, from private individuals to members of the executive, parliament, attorneys, advocates, government officials and police officers.
“To the knowledge of justice Madlanga, numbers that have been used in the impersonations are 063-204-2566, 072-691-1537, 066-016-8448, 076-565-4480 and 063-160-0082. Of these numbers, two that have been used recently during the life of the commission are 076-565-4480 and 063-160-0082,” said Michaels.
The impersonators’ motives vary, but all involve serious misconduct.
“The impersonator or impersonators threatened attorneys involved in litigation if they did not adopt a course proposed by them, sought to force organs of state to act against their own interest, attempted to extort money from individuals, public office bearers or organs of state, requested to be given money and solicited bribes.”
In every case brought to Madlanga’s attention, the scammers used different photographs of him as WhatsApp profile pictures.
Michaels warned the known cases are probably just a fraction of the full extent of the impersonations.
“Justice Madlanga is aware of only those cases of impersonation that have been brought to his attention. There is a strong probability that many people for whom impersonations have been made, especially those who do not know justice Madlanga personally, would not have brought the impersonations to his attention. So, unbeknownst to justice Madlanga, the impersonators may have contacted many people, potentially tarnishing his image on a large scale,” he said.
The commission urged the public, as well as organs of state and public officials, to remain vigilant and avoid falling victim to these scams.
“The commission regards these impersonations as interference in its work and has reported the impersonation of justice Madlanga to the relevant law enforcement agencies,” said Michaels.
TimesLIVE
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