Court dismisses assaulted Magistrate’s lawsuit
The High Court has dismissed a lawsuit against Chief Justice Terence Rannowane and Chief Registrar Juliana Dube-Gobotswang after a Molepolole-based magistrate accused them of forcing a transfer on her against medical doctors’ recommendations. Principal Magistrate, Kefilwe Resheng was assaulted and verbally attacked by an inmate at Molepolole Magistrate’s Court. She accused the pair of ‘negligence’ following the alleged attack.
She dragged the pair to court last week Tuesday resisting a transfer to the Mahalapye Magistrate’s Court on condition that she suffered an extreme mental and emotional breakdown after being attacked. Resheng’s lawsuit was an intention to halt her transfer pending a review application she was intending to file.
However, Justice Boipuso Tshweneyagae of the High Court dismissed Resheng’s lawsuit on Tuesday this week saying the applicant did not make any case against the CJ and CR. “I totally sympathise with her, one should not go through what she went through in their line of duty but I cannot say I agree with her on interdicting her transfer,” she said. The judge explained that it was unfortunate that Resheng was attacked but she cannot stop the transfer she had already accepted.
She pointed out that Resheng had already accepted the transfer and that what was pending was just administrative issues therefore, she did not contest the transfer at first.
On the fact of recommendation of doctors to halt the transfer due to medical conditions, Justice Tshweneyagae said the Magistrate did not demonstrate that she would not receive the same treatment at Mahalapye as the one she is receiving in Gaborone.
“She says she is receiving treatment in Gaborone hence she should not be transferred yet but did not indicate she will not receive same where she is transferred,” the judge said. The judge also pointed out that Resheng was not attacked in Mahalapye where she is transferred to but was attacked in Molepolole meaning Mahalapye had nothing to do with the attack.
On separation of spouses, Justice Tshweneyagae noted that it was something that would have been considered later since she had accepted the transfer without any contest.
Subsequently, she dismissed the lawsuit with costs. Meanwhile, the legal battle between the parties ensued following the Magistrate’s resistance of being transferred on reasons that she was attacked and suffered extreme mental breakdown.
She had filed the lawsuit explaining that on May 17 she was viciously attacked and assaulted by an accused inmate named Mogorosi Korae whilst executing her judicial functions in an open court. The Magistrate explained that after the incident, she was left with extreme Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and was forced to seek medical help in the form of psychologist hence the recommendation by her doctor not to be transferred away from family.
Following a back and forth of letters between her and her superiors and having been told that the transfer still stood, she was forced to file a lawsuit to stop the transfer temporarily while receiving medical treatment. She argued that the reasons were that the doctors had advised against such, as going far from family would be detrimental to her health.