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Mama Jackie will win on appeal
26/11/2007 09:58 - (SA)
Jon Qwelane
Last week I was jeered by readers of the internet version of this column, not even attempting to address the subject I was discussing.
Their interest was in the "guilty" verdict by a Soweto magistrate in the case involving the executive director of Ithuteng Trust, Jacqueline Maarohanye, and two colleagues.
I saw no need to be perturbed by that verdict.
To those who are beside themselves with unfounded joy at the verdict, I can only say I am confident their smiles will be short-lived. In fact, they will be wiped away by the outcome of her appeal, which we are going to win.
Yes, I said "we" because I align myself with the good that Maarohanye has done and for which some are hell-bent on destroying her.
There is a vast difference between winning a small "battle" and winning the war - and I am confident that we shall win this war in the High Court when the appeal is heard by competent and sober judges, acting professionally.
Unprocedural
There was an unprocedural moment in the Protea Magistrate's Court last week. The magistrate was suddenly and inexplicably interrupted by a court official who had nothing to do with the case: the official handed over a cellphone to the magistrate.
The magistrate then halted the case and went outside to take the call. Now that never happens in any court - and one might well ask, without impugning the person of the magistrate, what it was that was so pressing for him to demonstrate such utter contempt for the court proceedings?
Could it have been a call about a golf match he was planning with colleagues for later that day? Could it have been a shebeen queen calling to remind him about unpaid drinks? Could it have been someone announcing that millions in hard cash had already been delivered? These are all legitimate questions.
Whatever it was, the proceedings took a totally new turn after that call - hitherto the magistrate had been, as he should have, logically going over the evidence that had been led so far. But after that call, he changed tune.
Evidence debunked
The complainant had debunked his own evidence and the medical certificate which the police had presented for him had, during the preceding days, been shown to have been highly questionable, having been issued much later than claimed and, anyway, the "doctor" who had allegedly examined him was said to have emigrated.
The old lady from whose house the complainant was allegedly "kidnapped" told the court there was no such thing. The complainant was never "paraded naked in the streets" by anybody.
The Maarohanye saga has firmly convinced me that some media people - at one television station and at a number of newspapers - must be shown up for what they truly are, and I am going to do just that after the appeal.
One would hope that the police will be exposed for the charlatans that they are. By the same token, I would hope that the Judicial Service Commission will seriously probe the conduct of some judicial officers.
Another concern is the continuing silence about attempts to murder Maarohanye. That convinces me that the police are not what they should be.
And I am not saying the court should have found in favour of Maarohanye, but that the verdict speaks volumes about the kind of "justice" in our courts, where a "conviction" can be made on very dubious and flimsy "evidence".
The Appeal Court will have the final say. Believe me - we shall win this one!
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