Judge’s racial prejudices a clear injustice – Solidarity
22 April 2024
Solidarity’s Law Network condemns the crude racial attack in the judgment of Judge Madlenkosi Motha in a case that could seriously jeopardise the integrity of the legal system in South Africa.
In Judge Motha's ruling in the case between PERI Formwork Scaffolding Engineering (Pty) Ltd and the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Commission, there are more detailed comments on the race of the lawyers involved in the case than on the merits of the case, and the judge therefore fails in his role to apply the Constitution in an impartial manner – without prejudice or preference.
Solidarity’s Law Network already submitted a formal complaint to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) earlier this year with the request that Judge Motha be investigated and removed from the judiciary.
Receipt of this complaint was also formally acknowledged by the JSC – a complaint with regard to the judge’s email to the four lawyers who appeared before him in this very case in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in January.