Magistrates at Palm Ridge Court in Katlehong have accused their boss of racism, intimidation, bullying and trying to influence how they handle cases.
Magistrates also alleged that acting senior magistrate Susan du Pisanie takes pictures of their cars in the parking lot and records their conversations.
The disgruntled group, who call themselves the Palm Ridge Concerned Magistrates, and whose complaint was leaked to Sowetan, say Du Pisanie invades their personal space by taking images of their cars to determine their attendance at work.
Du Pisanie, who was appointed to the position in January, is also accused of talking down to black staff members and shouting at them.
About eight magistrates wrote to the Magistrates Commission detailing incidents in which Du Pisanie spoke to them with hints of a “racial undertone”. This after their complaint allegedly fell on deaf ears when reported to the chief magistrate.
In their July 25 letter to the commission, they said Du Pisanie also interferes with the work of the police, legal aid agencies and attorneys.
“Blatant favouritism...certain magistrates are shown favour by management. The basis can be racially or gender motivated,” the letter reads.
“We are being shouted at in the presence of clerks who have respect for us. Her manner of approach is very condescending and belittling to those that she speaks to. Humiliating, demeaning and degrading. She takes photos of our vehicles, which is a massive security risk and an invasion of our personal information. She uses this as a basis to determine our attendance at work, not considering that some magistrates do not always use their vehicles or their designated parking.”
The group submitted individual affidavits to the commission detailing its treatment under the leadership of Du Pisanie. One magistrate alleged that Du Pisanie had gained access to his office while he was on leave and went through his drawers.
“She questioned why a certain file was not finalised and alleged that I was dragging the matter. When I answered, she interrupted me, making allegations which are [mis]leading and unfounded.”
According to a source with knowledge of the complaint, Du Pisanie had also tried interfering in one magistrate’s bail hearing by telling the magistrate what the amount should be and allegedly threatening to charge the magistrate with misconduct if her orders were not followed.
“There was a case of four accused whose bail was fixed at a shocking amount of R20,000 each for theft of cooking oil, clearly because of their skin colour. There are a lot of inappropriate sentences that are imposed on black people without considering their mitigating factors due to the influence of Du Pisanie.
“She often holds the belief that the black accused have previous convictions, going as far as doing personal research on them to justify her harsh judgments,” the source said.
“She called one of the clerks a monkey...but because he feared victimisation, he refused to put forward a complaint.”
According to another affidavit, Du Pisanie allegedly held discussions about the Palm Ridge magistrate in another court, referring to the magistrates at the court as “useless and hopeless”.
Another affidavit details how on June 2, Du Pisanie, allegedly threatened to show magistrates and clerks the door if they duplicated charge sheets without her permission.
“It felt like we were in school and the principal was shouting at his naughty pupils, or like a gardener who is threatened with dismissal for every mistake because the employer holds the power in his hands. No policy applies, no regulations exist,” the affidavit reads.
In 2008, Du Pisanie recused herself from a drug trafficking matter in which she was also accused of racism and bias at the Johannesburg magistrate’s court.
Two of her colleagues testified against her when the lawyers of 10 Nigerian men who were accused of crime put in an application to have Du Pisanie removed as the presiding officer, accusing her of racial bias. She later recused herself from the matter.
When asked about the allegations, Du Pisanie said: “I cannot speak to the media. Please speak to the chief magistrate.”
Sowetan wrote to the chief magistrate at the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court that the magistrates initially wrote to, Elmarie De Klerk, who referred us to the Magistrates Commission.
After several attempts to reach the commission’s acting secretary, Michael Nieuwoudt, no response was provided.
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