Still unknown if Meyiwa judge will apologise for rebuke directed at a defence lawyer

JOHANNESBURG - It remains to be seen if the judge presiding over the long-running Senzo Meyiwa trial will heed calls to apologise for a harsh rebuke directed at one of the defence lawyers.

Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng came under fire during proceedings last week when he criticised Advocate Charles Mnisi for excusing himself from Monday’s sitting.

Mnisi sent a message to the court’s registrar that he would be returning from KwaZulu-Natal after running Sunday’s Comrades Marathon.

In SABC footage from last week’s proceedings, a frustrated Mokgoatlheng pulled no punches.

"This is South Africa, run by blacks. I can tell you now, even if you call me an Uncle Tom, I don’t think a white advocate would have the gall to ask me that. Never."

Some legal analysts have since labelled the judge’s comments as racial profiling.

The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice in Parliament, Xola Nqola, said the comments border on racism.

READ: Long-running Senzo Meyiwa murder trial expected to resume in court

Nqola said while the judge’s concerns about continued delays are warranted, “it is totally unacceptable to imply black legal professionals act unprofessionally compared to their white counterparts,” calling for Mokgoatlheng to refrain from such gross generalisations.

The justice committee is now calling for a withdrawal of the comments and a public apology from the judge.

Despite the judge's refusal to push proceedings out by a day, Mnisi ran the Comrades Marathon and could be seen on social media posing after crossing the finish line in his J37137 race tag.

Mnisi is representing two of the five men on trial for the 2014 murder of the Bafana Bafana captain.