Off the wire
• Kenya's private sector body decries high level of corruption  • Giant panda cub dies 5 days after birth  • Xinhua Insight: China's hospital wards haunted by violence  • Indonesian minister welcomes Chinese youth delegation  • Kenya urges African audit institutions to embrace competence  • IS claims deadly car bomb attack in Iraq's Baghdad  • Turkey vows to use "all alternatives" to fight IS along borders  • Route linking Lanzhou, Kathmandu begins operation  • 66 dead, 10 missing after heavy rain in S China  • China to pilot new family law procedure  
You are here: 　 Home

S. African judge granted special leave for making racial remarks

Xinhua, May 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Africa's Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha on Wednesday granted special leave to High Court judge Mabel Jansen following complaints over her racial remarks on social media.

Masutha's granting of the leave follows the request from Judge President Dunstan Mlambo of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, to place Jansen on special leave, pending finalization of a complaint submitted to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), Masutha spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said in a statement.

"The complaint relates to comments on social media attributed to her which have caused outrage among members of the public," Mhaga said.

The special leave was granted after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Tuesday proposed to Masutha that Judge Jansen be placed on special leave following complaints over her racial remarks on social media.

The JSC said it noted with concern the public outcry, as well as print and social media coverage of the social media posts attributed to Jansen, a judge of the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria.

In a Facebook conversation with social justice activist Gillian Schutte, Jansen posted messages suggesting that rape is an ingrained part of black people's culture.

Judge Jansen's comments have sparked outrage from members of the legal fraternity, political parties and ordinary South Africans.

Jansen said later the comments referred specifically to the cases she had handled.

The JSC said a complaint of alleged misconduct against Jansen can be lodged with the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) by way of an affidavit or an affirmed statement specifying the nature of the complaint and the facts on which the complaint is based.

Such a complaint will then be dealt with by the JCC in terms of the JSC Act, the JSC said.

"All Judges are subject to the Code of Judicial Conduct, which serves as the prevailing standard for judicial conduct which Judges must adhere to," the JSC said.

Jansen's remarks add fuel to a new wave of racial tension that has gripped South Africa since the beginning of this year when Penny Sparrow, an estate agent, labelled black revellers on public beaches in Durban during the New Year as "monkeys".

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has laid charges against Sparrow and other individuals for promoting racism on social media. Endit