Johannesburg - The case against a Randburg magistrate accused of soliciting a bribe from a man to make his extradition case disappear was again postponed due to legal representation problems.
On Wednesday, the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court heard that magistrate Johannes Kgomo was once again without legal representation, despite the matter being set down for trial since the beginning of the month.
This comes after the magistrate’s trial was postponed because he had problems with his then lawyer.
On Wednesday, Kgomo, who allegedly took a bribe of R500 000 from South African Paul Mthabela, who was wanted in Botswana, said his lawyer was busy with another case and was not available to represent him.
But a frustrated magistrate Albertus Roux was determined to continue with the trial and demanded that the matter proceed.
After the case was adjourned for a few hours, Kgomo’s lawyer, Phulusi Maeyane, addressed the court, saying he was not available to represent him.
He told the court that Kgomo had contacted him late on Monday afternoon to request his legal services and he did not have sufficient time to clear his schedule.
Roux then questioned Kgomo about why he had not adequately dealt with his legal affairs, as the case was postponed last week for the same reason.
But Kgomo said he had difficulty getting hold of legal representatives as many of them were away for the long weekend.
Although Roux was annoyed with the delay, he granted the defence’s request for a postponement, warning that it would be the last one.
“This is becoming a concern to the court,” he said. “There are many legal counsels out there, find one.”
Mthabela – a South African citizen who was also a witness in Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir’s trial – was wanted in Botswana for allegedly defrauding the country’s Health Ministry of millions of rand. He fled to South Africa, but Interpol later arrested him and he was released on bail.
Kgomo has denied all charges against him.
The trial was postponed until Tuesday.
The Star