A High Court Judge has complained to President Mokgweetsi Masisi that Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane and Minister of State President Kabo Morwaeng tried to influence him to unlawfully extend the remand detention of Lobatse Member of Parliament and former Minister of Finance Thapelo Matsheka.
Justice Gaopalelwe Ketlogetswe who presided over the recent application for Matsheka’s release from police custody claims the Chief Justice and the Minister of Presidential Affairs meddled in the case.
In a hard hitting letter Justice Ketlogetswe has called on the president to subject Justice Rannowane to an enquiry to determine his fitness to continue holding judicial office as Chief Justice.
In a letter seen by the Sunday Standard the judge claims that ahead of his ruling ordering the release of Matsheka, he was subjected to pressure by the Chief Justice and the minister of State President.
Justice Ketlogetswe says Minister Morwaeng asked him for a meeting, but he turned down the request as that “would have been the most inappropriate thing to do on my part.”
“He [Morwaeng] replied, saying he agreed with me but then asked if he could call me. I gave him the go ahead. Minister Morwaeng then told me he had spent a sleepless night. I asked him why and that is when he dropped a bombshell. He told me, continuing from our previous night discussions that as Minister responsible for State Security, my judgement was likely to bring about social unrest. He referred to the infamous “Arab Spring”; that I should be careful because the matter touched on the security, not only of the country, but also on my own security and that of my family (he actually made mention of my children). He insinuated that those not happy with my decision might come for me and possibly even hurt me. I felt that the minister had now gone overboard and was threatening me,” says the judge in his letter.
The judge says he told the minister that his decision would be informed by his understanding of the law, and not any extraneous matter, not even the fear that some sections of society might not agree with it.
“I could read from the Honourable Minister’s interactions with me that he had knowledge that I was going to make a decision releasing Dr Matsheka. This was a bit unsettling because the only person who had prior knowledge of what my decision was going to be was the Chief Justice. This coincidence and the fact that both the Honourable Minister and the Honourable Chief Justice had made reference to the issue of the Gaongalelwe Commission concerning judges, which in an event bore no relationship to the Dr Matsheka case, suggested to me conclusively that there must have been some discussions between the Minister and the Chief Justice concerning the case I was doing. It naturally got me worried and that I was being subtly and actively pressured to decide a case against both my conscience and the dictates of the law,” adds Justice Ketlogetswe in his letter.
Justice Ketlogetswe says he feels he has been unfairly treated by both the Chief Justice e Rannowane and the Minister of State President, Morwaeng.
He says it is his considered view that the Chief Justice and the Minister’s meddling in the Matsheka case is “completely wrong and unacceptable, and constitutes an affront on the exercise of judicial independence by a Judge of the High Court and calls for appropriate action.”
Justice Ketlogetswe says there was an attempt by both, “first, to dangle the carrot, as it were, in the form of suggesting to me that the longstanding issue of the Gaongalelwe Commission, was being attended to. This, in my view was a subtle way to get me to bargain a judgement of a court with an issue pertaining to the conditions of service of the judges. When that could not sway my attitude, there was then resort to some veiled threats and nuances of perceived social unrest and issues of my personal security. All this was intended to unjustly sway my thinking in relation to the decision I was called upon to make as a judge.”
“As for Honourable Minister Morwaeng, I register the same complaint, but leave it to Your Excellency to consider the appropriate action to take with a view to protecting judicial independence from undue interference by those holding public office,” says Ketlogetswe in his letter.
