Dewani judge to be probed

WESTERN Cape Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso’s handling of British businessman Shrien Dewani’s murder trial is to be probed by a panel convened by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

The commission’s Judicial Conduct Committee – comprising the chief justice as chairperson, the deputy chief justice and four other judges – would conduct the probe into a complaint of bias and misconduct against Judge Traverso, who acquitted Dewani in December last year, JSC spokesman Sello Chiloane said yesterday.

“The complaint will be heard by the Judicial Conduct Committee, established in terms of section 8 of the JSC Act,” Chiloane said.

A non-profit organisation, Higher Education Transformation Network (HETN), lodged a formal complaint with the JSC in January. This resulted in the probe by the committee, which will sit on Friday.

In an affidavit in support of the complaint, HETN chairman Lucky Thekisho said Judge Traverso had failed to give the State a fair hearing and conducted the trial with prejudice.

Thekisho said Judge Traverso had failed to disclose her prior relationship and friendship with the defence counsel.

In a statement yesterday, Thekisho said: “It is a fundamental precept of good governance that all affairs of government be conducted in a transparent manner.

“The judiciary is the third branch of government. Transparency is a hallmark of any democracy and the conduct of judges and investigations of wrongdoing are not immune from the fundamental precepts of openness and transparency.”

“Tribunals in other parts of the world have recognised the fundamental importance of openness and transparency, otherwise it contributes to suspicion and cynicism.”

Thekisho was told the probe would commence on Friday only after having contacted the JSC himself. He expressed his frustration that the JSC had not kept his organisation abreast of developments.

“No one told us what was happening, and that is not acceptable,” Thekisho said.

JSC secretariat Lynette Bios signed the receipt of acknowledgement of complaint on January 22.

Legal experts involved in the Dewani case would not comment.

At the end of last year, Judge Traverso granted Dewani’s application for his discharge. Dewani was charged for orchestrating the murder of his wife Anni in Cape Town in 2010.

Dewani was let off the hook after his lawyer brought an application in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows the court to “return a verdict of not guilty” if, at the close of the case for the prosecution, it was of the opinion there was “no evidence that the accused committed the offence”.

Leading up to Judge Traverso’s acquittal of Dewani, a petition calling for her conduct to be probed had gone viral on Facebook.