Magistrate faces sobering spell in dock for boozing

Presiding officer’s bad behaviour rocks Karoo town

LUKHANYO Zantsi used to be the most important man in his Laingsburg courtroom — dispensing justice to those who fell foul of the law.

On Wednesday, however, the acting magistrate will be in the dock, facing several criminal charges relating to being under the influence of alcohol.

Zantsi, who has been suspended, became the subject of a parliamentary discussion recently when the Magistrate’s Commission appeared before the National Council of Provinces’ justice and security cluster to report on the misconduct of magistrates.

MPs heard allegations about the 49-year-old showing up at work drunk or reeking of alcohol, and having to be taken home by a court clerk because he could not function.

Johannes Meijer of the commission’s ethics division said Zantsi had wilfully ignored all complaints about his drinking and the need for rehabilitation.

He said Zantsi had said he would seek rehabilitation only if he was given a permanent job as magistrate.

This week, Zantsi, who faced 14 misconduct charges, will face three counts relating to reckless driving, driving under the influence of liquor or drugs and having excessive amounts of alcohol in his blood. He will appear in the same court over which he has reportedly been drunkenly presiding.

In Laingsburg, residents appear to be all too familiar with the magistrate and his drinking exploits. But in a small town like this — most famous for the 1981 flooding that left 104 people dead — residents were uneasy about openly discussing Zantsi. Some knew of his suspension, others knew about his drinking — but none would speak on the record because everyone knows everyone in a town this size.

Meijer told MPs that Zantsi, when arrested for driving drunk, “lay on his stomach inside the charge office where he uttered abusive language”.

“He has been using intoxicants especially liquor when reporting for duty . . . He absents himself without a valid cause, which resulted in the sub cluster in the area making arrangements for a substitute magistrate,” said Meijer.

MPs were told that Zantsi used “vulgar and racist” language towards a female police officer, calling her “f***ing white trash” when he was arrested after a car crash.

The presiding officer’s bad behaviour is said to extend to his personal life. The misconduct complaints describe how he hosts parties over the weekends and plays loud music until 3am.

He is also said to have racked up debt at the local Caltex filling station after convincing the petrol attendant that he had an arrangement with the owner to buy fuel on credit.

But some MPs expressed sympathy for Zantsi, suggesting that not enough had been done to find the root cause of his drinking problem.

The EFF’s Tebogo Mokwele went so far as to suggest a conspiracy, saying Zantsi could have been singled out because he was a black magistrate in a largely white area.

The commission quickly put paid to that argument, highlighting the transparency of the ethics committee in place at the time and the fact that all its members were black.

Secretary for the Magistrate’s Commission Godfrey Ramoroka said no background checks had been done on Zantsi.

The fact that he had been a former state prosecutor had given the commission “comfort and confidence” that he was a fitting candidate for the position at Laingsburg.

Zantsi worked his way up the ranks from interpreter to prosecutor and then senior prosecutor.

Ramoroka explained that the commission, which falls under the departments of justice and correctional services, would need more manpower to do background checks on candidates who apply for jobs.

“[South Africans] must have confidence in the justice system. If we cannot have judicial officers having absolute integrity and acting even in their private capacity in a manner fitting and in a dignified nature, then the judiciary is going to have serious problems,” he said.

This week Department of Justice spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said that the department did not conduct verification checks on employees because it recruited from legal practitioners who belonged to trusted professional bodies.

“For the Magistrate’s Commission to have a verification process will be similar to not having trust [in] these institutions we recruit from,” said Mhaga.

Attempts to contact Zantsi for comment were unsuccessful.

If we cannot have judicial officers having absolute integrity . . . then the judiciary is going to have serious problems