So the motto should be changed from " If you do the crime you must be prepared to do the time" to something like "If you do the crime you must be prepared to have a good time " - at the tax payers expense of course!
In my opinion, the person(s) resonsible for this should should be made to pay all this money back! What an absolute waste of taxpayers money.
Regards
Nikki
Sibusiso Ngalwa
September 10 2006 at 09:59AM
While courts in KwaZulu-Natal struggle to cope with massive case backlogs due to staff shortages, the taxpayer has been paying eight suspended prosecutors sitting at home, some for as long as four years. The cost to the taxpayer is estimated at R3-million so far.
One such prosecutor is Ntombezinhle Mthuli, who was sacked three years ago for misconduct. She appealed against her dismissal - and has been awaiting the outcome ever since. For three years Mthuli, a senior public prosecutor, has been collecting a salary every month, and has even been paid an annual bonus - but has not been allowed to set foot in her office at the Durban magistrate's court. A senior public prosecutor earns from R300 000 to R318 000 a year.
I've been sitting and doing nothing and time is passing me by. My life has virtually come to a standstill as I cannot apply for another job while I'm on the NPA's (National Prosecuting Authority) payroll... It's frustrating. I appealed against my dismissal but nothing has happened. And I'm not the only one in this position," she said. Mthuli was fired by the NPA in 2004 for misconduct after dockets were found in her office at the Durban magistrates' court. She was suspended in July 2003.
And there are others drawing salaries for doing nothing; the NPA said seven other prosecutors in KwaZulu-Natal were on suspension with full pay, awaiting the outcome of their appeals or disciplinary processes. The oldest case dates back to 2002. The NPA said two prosecutors had been suspended in 2002 and 2003 for poor performance, and their cases were with Minister of Justice Brigitte Mabandla for a decision. Between 2003 and 2005, three others were suspended for "gross dishonesty" - two have taken their cases to arbitration, while the third has applied for retirement on medical grounds. This year, disciplinary action has been taken against three prosecutors - two have been sacked but have lodged appeals, and the third is awaiting a date for a disciplinary hearing. All are on full pay. National figures for suspended prosecutors were not available. Mthuli argued she had been suspended without being afforded the opportunity to give reasons why she should not be suspended. The 34-year-old mother of two criticised the NPA for double standards, saying a suspended prosecutor from Empangeni had been allowed to return to work because her appeal was taking too long. "I returned to work after 30 days (of suspension) as the law states one can do so if the appeal process is not resolved within that period. On my first day back I got a call from (NPA provincial head) Shamilla Batohi, ordering me to leave the building 'in the next two minutes'," she said. NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi defended the delays, saying they were following processes in line with the country's labour laws. "If we have eight suspended prosecutors in the most populous province in the country, surely it shows that as an employer we don't have a problem," he said. Democratic Alliance spokesperson on Justice, Sheila Camerer, said she was shocked at the lack of efficiency. "The Justice Department should get their act together because this is a waste of taxpayers' money," she said.
sibusiso.ngalwa@inl.co.za
This article was originally published on page 2 of Tribune on September 10, 2006
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