Jub Jub prosecutor relieved of duties
2010-03-25 23:17
Sonja Carstens en Daniëlla du Plooy
Johannesburg - A chief State prosecutor has been relieved of his duties after he refused to execute the orders of Menzi Simelane, head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
The orders were that he should not contest bail for the musician Jub Jub.
André (Lampies) Lambrecht, 60, chief State prosecutor of the West Rand, was given the order three times.
Gladstone Maema, acting director of public prosecution (DPP) in Gauteng, phoned Lambrecht twice to say Simelane had given the order. Maema repeated the order to Lambrecht for the third time in person.
Lambrecht refused to execute the order unless he received it in writing, which he did not receive.
Lambrecht didn't respond to Simelane's verbal order, and the State did oppose Jub Jub's bail application.
Visit from Malema
On Friday Magistrate André Auret granted bail of R10 000 to Jub Jub (Molemo Maarohanye).
The hip hop star is facing murder charges since he was involved in a car race which ended in a crash which killed four schoolboys in Soweto.
One day before Jub Jub's bail application was set to begin, he received a visit in detention from Julius Malema, president of the ANC Youth League.
Maema gave Lambrecht a letter on Tuesday in which he was relieved of his managerial duties and told to work as a prosecutor in court. No reasons were given.
Lambrecht has been chief State prosecutor of the West Rand for the past ten years. The prosecutors of Krugersdorp, Soweto, Randfontein and Roodepoort, among others, fall under him.
Magistrate Gert Jonker, chief magistrate of Johannesburg, said in response to a question that the court management was informed on Thursday morning that Lambrecht has been relieved of his managerial duties. "I'm shocked. He was an extremely capable chief prosecutor."
'Unreasonable treatment'
Manie de Clercq, deputy head manager of the Public Servants Association (PSA), said the case has been reported to the civil service union.
The union will be taking steps in accordance with the Labour Act to support Lambrecht with the "unreasonable treatment" he received from his employer.
Lambrecht was demoted without any disciplinary steps taken against him.
Jan Henning, former deputy chief of the NPA, described Lambrecht as "one of the pillars which keeps the prosecuting authority in the lower courts standing".
"If that (what happened) is the case, it's a harsh insult to someone who doesn't deserve it at all and to someone who has made a much bigger contribution to the practice of law that those who decided to relieve him of his duties."
'Not about Jub Jub case'
When Maema was approached for comment, he said Lambrecht's "move" had nothing to do with the Jub Jub case.
"It's part of our strategy to move these people with the expertise to the lower courts because we need them there, and big cases are increasingly being heard in lower courts.
"This is something we've been planning for quite some time. Three other people (in similar positions) were also moved to lower courts on the same day."
According to Maema, the decision regarding the moves was made before bail was granted in the Jub Jub case.
He did admit that he had spoken to Lambrecht about the Jub Jub case and the granting of bail, but said the two issues are not related at all.
"As DPP I have to discuss issues such as this (granting of bail and the charges against Jub Jub). We did so, and I communicated the decision to Simelane."
Lambrecht declined to comment.