Johannesburg Magistrate Ditches Robes And Bench To Become A Witness. Magistrate Maggie van der Merwe left her legal robes and bench to become a witness at the Johannesburg South High Court.
Magistrate Maggie van der Merwe left her legal robes and bench to become a witness at the Johannesburg South High Court. The magistrate from the Lenasia Magistrate’sCourt was asked to testify for murder and rape accused Thabo Mosia. The man known for cash-in-transits aksed the magistrate to give a testimony that he was attacked by the police during his custody time.
Magistrate Maggie van der Merwe told the court that she recalls the man, who is accused of sexual assault, murder and kidnapping of previous SBV worker Linda Matati, when he got into her courtroom in 2017. He stated that he was attacked by police officials, a claim they are against in court. She says that she made a log of his bruises on March 13, 2017, when he got into her court. “I recorded the injuries that I could observe myself from the bench or those that seen by my long-standing interpreter,” says the magistrate.
Some of the injuries that she saw along with her interpreter were swollen lower left leg, right eye being a bit red in colour, bruised knee and swollen wrists. The magistrate says she is always careful in writing down the injuries of the suspects because she knew that she might be asked to testify when the issue is given to a higher court. She says that she can’t say that she remembers whether the man’s bruises were seen or not. When asked about the injuries on the wrist, she stated that it might have been caused by handcuffs, which is common,
by Alexandra Ramaite
