Magistrate absent since 2019: committee urges pay suspension
The committee on Wednesday also recommended that the NCOP endorse the determination to withhold the remuneration of Ms SS Fredericks, the additional magistrate at Booysens magistrate's court in Johannesburg.
Committee chairperson Jane Seboletswe Mananiso said the recommendation to withhold her remuneration was in terms of the Magistrates Act.
She said the committee's recommendation followed its consideration of the minister of justice and constitutional development's report, tabled in parliament on July 1. The report, dated June 26, was based on advice from the Magistrates Commission after an extended period of unauthorised absence by Fredericks since November 2019, during which she continued to receive full remuneration.
The committee previously heard that the matter was brought to the commission's attention in April 2024, when the secretary of the commission learnt of Fredericks' prolonged absence during a departmental leave management meeting.
Subsequent investigations confirmed her continued absence from her duties at the Booysens magistrate's court, with no official permission or satisfactory explanation provided.
After a series of internal processes — including attempts to engage Fredericks, legal consultations and correspondence with the department of social development — the commission resolved in June this year to recommend a disciplinary hearing and to advise the minister that provisional suspension and the withholding of remuneration were warranted.
Mananiso said the committee found Fredricks' absence had adversely affected the functioning of the court and the administration of justice.
Despite being offered the opportunity to respond, Fredericks had failed to make any representations to the commission.
All reasonable avenues to resolve the matter were exhausted before a recommendation was made.
'Having considered the minister's report concerning the provisional suspension from office of Ms Fredericks, pending the outcome of a hearing into her fitness to hold office as a magistrate, the committee recommends that the NCOP confirm the provisional suspension of Ms Fredericks.
'The committee further recommends that the NCOP resolves to confirm the determination to withhold Ms Fredericks remuneration pending the outcome of the hearing into her fitness to hold office as a magistrate,' Mananiso said.
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