Judge arrested for drunken driving

A report in the Sunday Times says Judge Nkola Motata allegedly resisted arrest and was wrestled into a Johannesburg Metro Police patrol car by five officers. Witnesses said he repeatedly tried to start the vehicle as if to leave the scene, but that the owner of the property confiscated his keys. Seated in his vehicle, Judge Motata demanded his keys and announced that he was a judge. Metro police spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar, confirmed that a judge was arrested for drunk driving. ‘The two female officers at the scene had to radio for assistance after the judge became non-co-operative,’ he said. The judge is expected to appear in the Randburg Magistrates’ Court today. Full Sunday Times report Edited transcript of altercation between judge and property-owner

A witness claims Motata was ‘drunk, argumentative, loud and swearing like a trooper’. ‘He was gone, really gone and humiliated himself by falling when he tried to stand,’ a witness said, adding that the judge had refused to take a breathalyser test, had ignored the Metro Police’s pleas to co-operate and had refused to get out of his car. According to a report in The Mercury, the witness said he had been shocked to discover that the man was a judge, something he had discovered when he had looked in the open boot of the car. The accident had left the boot wide open and there were some files addressed to Judge Motata and official SAPS files. The witness took pictures of the judge and recorded his discussions with him on his cellphone, a transcript of which showed that the belligerent judge swore freely. If Motata is found to have been driving under the influence of alcohol, the DA is to ask Pius Langa, the Chief Justice, for an investigation into his conduct, says an SABC News report. The Mercury report not available online Full SABC News report