Sowetan journalist Noxolo Sibiya was put on the stand at the Boksburg magistrate’s court to explain why she should take pictures of a man accused of killing his wife.
In a bizarre move on Wednesday, magistrate Ramafufi who is presiding over the murder trial of Mzwandile Mike Mphahlele asked Sibiya to come and explain why she should take pictures during court proceedings.
Sibiya spent 30 minutes on the witness stand being questioned by the defence and the state about her experience and why she needed to have Mphahele’s images.
She had covered the same case on Tuesday and submitted a written media application to take pictures for the court to make a decision. Ramafufi said then that Sowetan would need to bring lawyers to argue why the publication should be granted permission to take pictures in court.
Sibiya said as she arrived, court officials were calling her name.
“I was a confused. I thought that I was just going to read out the contents of the application which I had already made the day before. But when I took the oath I realised it is serious. I was very nervous.”
She said the defence lawyer Amos Makhubela questioned her.
“He asked why is it important now to have the picture when we have previously run stories without the image of the accused.”
Mphahlele is facing a charge of murder for the death of his wife Prudence Mphahlele.
Prudence's naked body was found in a bath tub full of water in their home on the East Rand on November 17 2019. Mphahlele claimed that his wife had drowned in a bath tub but postmortem results showed she had been strangled.
Sowetan editor-in-chief Nwabisa Makunga said: “What happened in this court was completely outrageous. It goes against every rule of an open and just society…We condemn this incident in the strongest possible form. We reject nefarious attempts, such as these, to undermine the principle of transparency which is a cornerstone of our democracy.”
Makhudu Sefara, chairperson of the media freedom committee in the SA National Editors Forum (Sanef), said the actions of the magistrate are worrying.
“I am completely shocked and I think that this matter raises a very serious issue about access to the courts and how the presiding officers are treating journalism with contempt because if they had respect for what we do do for society, the presiding officer would not have taken the actions that he did,” Sefara said.
Spokesperson for the ministry of justice Chrispin Phiri said there was nothing that could be done.
“No-one can intervene in a decision that has been taken by the court, even the minister can't. I agree with you that it is something weird. I have never heard of it in my life. Unfortunately we cannot instruct a judicial officer or persuade them to make a decision,” Phiri said.
The magistrate will make a decision on the application when the matter goes to trial in May 2023.
dlaminip@sowetan.co.za
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