Merc gives judge the slip…

Former Land Claims Court judge Bakone Moloto may be 10 000km away in The Hague, where he is a member of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, but that didn’t stop his official vehicle in SA from receiving a R3 000 speeding ticket in his absence.

Randburg Land Claims Court sources say the Mercedes-Benz ML was allegedly being driven by court manager Zoleka Sondlo when it was caught doing 88km/h in a 60km/h zone on the morning of November 23, 2010.

This was despite the fact that government policy clearly states that no employee with a car allowance is permitted to drive a state vehicle.

Attempts to obtain comment from Moloto were unsuccessful, but Department of Justice and Constitutional Development spokesman Tlali Tlali on Wednesday confirmed the matter had been brought to the attention of the national office last February after a tip-off.

“The matter was referred to the forensic audit component in the department for investigation.

The investigation focused on a number of areas, including to establish whether or not – in those instances where the vehicle was alleged to have been used – (the trips) were for official purposes as well as whether such trips had been duly authorised or not.”

Tlali said the probe covered the period from December 2005 to March last year. The investigation had been concluded and a report, with recommendations, had been submitted.

However, five people within the Land Claims Court suspect there are attempts to sweep the matter under the carpet. “If the investigation was completed in 2011, why has there been no action taken against the culprits almost a year later?” they asked.

Court staff say an official was instructed by Sondlo to make arrangements to cancel the fine, and also to get a copy of Moloto’s ID from his personal file, and certify it, without his knowledge.

Tlali said they viewed the allegations in a serious light and they would be investigated so that action could be taken without delay. “If the judge was unaware of this, the conduct you refer to constitutes fraud, as misrepresentations may have been made, creating an impression that officials were acting on the instruction of the judge. This borders on corruption,” said Tlali.

In the middle of last year, staff complained in a memo sent to the Justice Department’s chief director that Sondlo had used Moloto’s vehicle to and from work and that Sondlo’s vehicle had been parked in the basement.

It was also claimed that she had used the vehicle to travel to the Eastern Cape without authority. - The Star