Magistrate fined for using the K-word

A MAGISTRATE in Mpumalanga has been ordered to pay a R5 000 fine for calling a security guard at his courthouse a k****r.

The Witbank Equality Court on Friday ordered that magistrate Ernst du Plooy also make a written apology to Thokozani Madela.

Madela, 39, approached the equality court after Du Plooy verbally abused him in April 2011 at the entrance of the court.

Du Plooy made the remark after Madela had asked to search his car. Security guards were told at the time to search all cars entering and leaving the court premises.

An angry Du Plooy used the racial epithet against Madela, who was manning the gate that morning.

In his affidavit to court, Madela said Du Plooy had said: “K****r, do not touch my car.”

In a 20-page judgment, the magistrate said that even though Madela and Du Plooy had presented conflicting evidence in court, “the balance of probabilities favours the complainant’s case”.

The magistrate said what was “clear from the evidence and is confirmed by both the office manager and the site manager is that the complainant and his witness [another security guard] soon after the incident each reported the incident separately before there could have been an opportunity to fabricate a story”.

“Even if the incident had annoyed them so much that they wanted to take revenge against the respondent, I do not think at that stage the opportunity had presented itself to concoct a story,” the magistrate said.

Despite the case, Du Plooy has continued to preside over criminal and civil cases, including some in the equality court.

When the Sunday Times contacted Du Plooy last year, he declined to respond to questions regarding the incident: “I’m not going to speak to you.

“I am busy with court proceedings.”

Madela said his employer, a private security company, moved him to another site im- mediately after the incident. That had led to him working fewer hours and earning less.

Justice department spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said the Magistrate’s Commission would meet this week to charge Du Plooy with misconduct.

‘‘As the department, we are quite disturbed that a judicial officer is found guilty of using such a derogatory word, which flies in the face of reconciliatory efforts by many South Africans,” Mhaga said.

‘‘No human being deserves to be called in that humiliating manner.

“However, we are encouraged by the outcome of the equality court [case] and trust that the commission will act decisively,” he said.