Judge's race remarks 'loud and clear' - paper
A re-examination of an audio recording made at the scene of Judge Nkola Motata's drunken crash into the wall of a Johannesburg house in 2007 says it loud and clear - Motata made racist remarks, reports the Mail & Guardian.
It says that on the tapes it examined and translated from Sesotho, Motata can distinctly be heard saying to bystanders: 'All of you, let me tell you, my brothers and sisters - these people should not catch us. Let us live, we are the majority and this is our land. It is not the land of the boers (maburu) even if they have big bodies. South Africa is ours, we rule it.' The paper says this new taped evidence adds weight to the charge of 'gross racist misconduct' brought before the JSC by the civil society group, AfriForum. The tapes, described as 'indistinct' in court transcripts at Motata's trial, show that the judge uttered racial slurs; tried to arouse the racial sympathy of black bystanders; threw his weight around; swore repeatedly, including at police officers; and tried to get away from the scene of the accident. The paper says the convicted Gauteng High Court judge may now struggle to stave off a JSC hearing on his possible impeachment for racism and other serious misconduct. Full Mail & Guardian Online Transcript of the tape