Controversial judge on shortlist for KZN Bench
Judge Poswa had the shortest interview before the JSC at the Walter Sisulu Hall, Kliptown. His bid to be a Constitutional Judge was tharted by the admission that he would be legally too old when assuming the position at the age of 70. Picture: Chris Collingridge Judge Poswa had the shortest interview before the JSC at the Walter Sisulu Hall, Kliptown. His bid to be a Constitutional Judge was tharted by the admission that he would be legally too old when assuming the position at the age of 70. Picture: Chris Collingridge
TANIA BROUGHTON AND KAMINI PADAYACHEE
A controversial Pretoria High Court judge who was involved in a child maintenance row and who has been criticised by the Supreme Court of Appeal for releasing two murder suspects, is again applying for a job in KwaZulu-Natal.
Judge Ntsikelelo Poswa was shortlisted for a post in KZN in 2008. He withdrew his application at the last minute, amid speculation that he did not want to face a grilling from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which had confirmed publicly that it had received several complaints about him over the years.
These involved allegations of incompetency, incapacity and misconduct.
Now Judge Poswa has been shortlisted again and is named as one of six candidates for three vacancies on the KZN Bench in a statement released by the commission yesterday.
Competing with him are senior advocates Johan Ploos van Amstel, from Durban, and Adrian Rall, from Pietermaritzburg, and senior Durban magistrate Soma Naidoo.
Also on the list are Newcastle attorney Yvonne Mbatha, now an acting judge in the Durban High Court, and Jerome Ngwenya, chairman of the Ingonyama Trust Board, who used to be a judge in the Cape before resigning.
Judge Poswa was lambasted by the appeal court after he granted bail of R1 000 each to two men accused of murder and attempted murder. The court said his actions were “disturbing” and “justice had failed completely”.
The judge was reported as having granted the two men bail in spite of their not having fixed addresses and was quoted as having said: “It is easy to say of African people who do not live in mansions that they do not have addresses.”
He was also reported to have said he did not need to know if the pair had passports because he did not have one and “not many Africans have passports”. Soon afterwards, a photograph was posted on a website showing him at a conference in Edinburgh.
The judge was in the news again when he refused to pay child maintenance to a former lover. The paternity test showed a “99.9 percent” probability that he was the father, but he said the result was inconclusive.
It was reported that Chief Justice Pius Langa refused to disclose the reasons for the withdrawal of Judge Poswa’s application in 2008.
The report said that according to a letter to the JSC motivating his application, Judge Poswa had wanted a transfer as his wife had not been able to find a job in Pretoria because of her age, and they could not do without her income.
This also meant he would have to travel frequently between Joburg and Durban at his own expense.
He had chronic conditions – diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol – that required a stress-free environment, and he was not coping with the work pressure in Pretoria.
Also, he could not speak Afrikaans, which had led to tensions with his Afrikaans-speaking colleagues.
The dates for the interviews have not been set.