Magistrate withdraws from case over promotion
A magistrate\'s appointment as a judge in the Cape High Court has led to his withdrawal as presiding official in a bootleg liquor case in the Bellville Regional Court.
The case, until yesterday before magistrate Andre le Grange, involves Johan van der Heever, former part-owner of the Bellville and Bothasig branches of Jumbo Liquors, and Dan Padowitz, formerly a director of liquor distributors Bebida Distillers. Both were to have been sentenced yesterday for fraud, for the sale to the public of toxic alcohol intended for industrial purposes, as cheap liquor, says a report on the IoL site. The case has now been allocated to Bellville Regional Court magistrate Johann Vermaak, when it resumes on July 7. Full report on the IoL site