MAGISTRATE SLEEPS THROUGH CASE

Man, oh man! This is priceless! I can't say that I am surprised - it's sad really, when you get to the stage where very little surprises you any more - make the world a really jaded place!

On a more serious note, she should be struck off the role - this is absolutely disgusting. What if this was a murder case or perhaps she never gets the realy juciy ones because she falls asleep all the time. I mean how did she get through university - oh, oh, oh - did she actually go to university and does she have a law degree?

Now there's a question that should be asked!

South Africa
Magistrate sleeps through case
2007-8-29 23:06
Delmas -

"I couldn't believe my eyes. There I stood being cross-examined in court and the magistrate was asleep."

Anet Ruck of Sunshine chicken abattoir had this experience this week when she was the chief witness in a case of stock theft.

The case will now apparently have to be struck from the roll or tried again, because the magistrate, Raesetea Malahlela allegedly fell asleep while a case of stock theft was being heard.
Ruck complained formally in a sworn statement at the court on Wednesday.

She said that she had been in court on Monday to testify in a case in which the accused allegedly tried to steal two pigs from her neighbour.

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"I'd never been in court before and I was very nervous.
"I was stunned initially when the magistrate sat chewing bubble gum. Every now and then there'd be a popping sound when she let the bubbles burst.

"It was very disturbing. When the accused began to cross-examine me, I noticed that the magistrate was slumped with her head right back against the chair. She was fast asleep."

Ruck said she was cross examined for about 15 minutes and the magistrate slept through it all.
Ruck said the interpreter eventually tried to wake her by calling out "Your honour!", but it didn't work.

The prosecutor then got up and spoke to her loudly.
"The court burst into laughter when she suddenly woke up.
"She just grinned sheepishly and rubbed her eyes. She then adjourned the court, saying it was tea-time," Ruck said.

Malahlela could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Chief magistrate Adel Viljoen confirmed that the incident had been reported, but she declined to comment.

She referred all enquiries to David Ngobeni, the provincial chief magistrate in Nelspruit.
Ngobeni was at a meeting in Pretoria on Wednesday and did not respond to Beeld's enquiries.
Beeld heard reliably that it was not the first time that Malahlela had been reported for sleeping on the job.

She has apparently been found sleeping on the floor behind her desk twice, including once in December last year.

Beeld