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Racist claims 'misperceptions'
12/04/2007 13:07 - (SA)
Cape Town - A KwaZulu-Natal advocate, who two years ago accused the provincial Bench of racism, on Thursday withdrew his attack saying it was based on misperceptions.
Advocate Mjabuliseni Madondo, who was being interviewed in Cape Town by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for a vacancy on the KZN Bench, told the panel he regretted having made the remarks.
"I realise I made a mistake, as my remarks were based on misperceptions," he said.
In a radio interview with SAFM in 2005, Madondo said racism was rife on the KZN Bench.
He told the panel his remarks were partly prompted by an incident during court proceedings when a senior advocate had told him he was talking rubbish. Presiding Judge Lorna Theron had failed to protect him from the advocate's verbal abuse.
However, when asked by JSC member Milton Seligson how he had reached the conclusion the incident constituted racism, Madondo could not substantiate his claim.
"The judge should have protected me, but it was wrong for me to say her conduct was racist," he said.
KZN Judge President Vuka Tshabalala had written to Madondo after the radio interview was broadcast, reprimanding him for his attack on the provincial Bench.
Madondo, who is chairperson of the KZN Black Lawyers' Association's empowerment committee, held the panel's attention with stories of how he sold a goat to help finance his education and earned ten cents a month as a farmworker.
Eventually, Chief Justice Pius Langa had to stop the panel from asking Madondo further questions about his background.
- SAPA
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