ATC240228: Report of Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on the Provisional Suspension From Office of Mr Aak Singh, Senior Magistrate, Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu-Natal, Tabled In terms of Section 13(3)(B) of the Magistrates Act, 1993 (Act No 90 Of 1993), Dated 28 February 2024

Justice and Correctional Services

Report of Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on the Provisional Suspension From Office of Mr Aak Singh, Senior Magistrate, Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu-Natal, Tabled In terms of Section 13(3)(B) of the Magistrates Act, 1993 (Act No 90 Of 1993), Dated 28 February 2024.

 

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, having considered the report of the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, dated 18 December 2023, tabled in terms of section 13(3)(b) of the Magistrates Act, 1993, regarding the provisional suspension from office of Mr AAK Singh on the ground of misconduct pending the outcome of a misconduct hearing into his fitness to hold the office of magistrate, reports as follows:

 

1. Mr AAK Singh is a senior magistrate at Pietermaritzburg.
    
2. The Magistrates Commission (“the Commission”) received several complaints against Mr Singh. A charge sheet and notice of the recommendation for provisional suspension, dated 27 September 2023, was served on Mr Singh. The charges concern the following:

 

• In July 2023, he sent inappropriate, concerning, and threatening What’s App messages to journalists following the publication of an article.
• Under oath he stated that he had attended a meeting with members of the SAPS’ Crime Intelligence Unit on 30 December 2016, while he did not attend the meeting.
• He had or has a close relationship with officials attached to the SAPS’ Crime Intelligence Unit, to the extent that, during the period 2016 and 2017, he actively involved himself in the Crime Intelligence Unit’s investigations and undercover operations by identifying and recruiting suspects appearing in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate Court as informants/contacts; assisted with arrangements for the Crime Intelligence Unit to covertly install recording equipment at an office he identified for recording purposes; assisted the Crime Intelligence Unit with an investigation of a project into the ‘Fees Must Fall’ incidents and divulged information regarding the strength of a case against arrested persons to an identified informant/contact.

 

3. In response, on 9 October 2023, Mr Singh forwarded representations on why the Commission should not recommend to the Minister that he be provisionally suspended.

4. On 13 October 2023, having regard to the seriousness of the allegations against Mr Singh, the evidence at hand, and Mr Singh’s representations, the Commission recommended that he be provisionally suspended.

5. On 18 December 2023, on the advice of the Commission, the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services provisionally suspended Mr Singh from office with immediate effect, pending the outcome of the misconduct hearing into his fitness to hold office, and tabled his report for consideration by Parliament in terms of section 13(3)(b) of the Magistrates Act, 1993. The matter was referred to the Committee on 1 February 2024.

6. During its deliberations, the Committee’s attention was drawn to delays that have occurred in the handling of complaints against magistrates. The Committee intends to meet with the Commission to discuss its concerns and will include its views in its Legacy Report as a matter for the next Parliament to monitor.

Recommendation

7. Having considered the report of the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, dated 20 December 2023, tabled in terms of section 13(3)(b) of the Magistrates Act, 1993, on the provisional suspension of Mr AAK Singh, Senior Magistrate, Pietermartizburg, KwaZulu-Natal, from office on the ground of misconduct, the Committee recommends that the National Assembly confirm Mr AAK Singh’s provisional suspension from the office of Magistrate pending the outcome of a misconduct hearing into his fitness to hold the office of magistrate.

 

Report to be considered