ATC240228: Report of Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on the Upliftment of the Provisional Suspension on Certain Conditions from Office of Magistrate K Bodlani, an Acting Regional Magistrate At Umlazi (Emlazi), Kwazulu-Natal, Dated 28 February 2024

Justice and Correctional Services

Report of Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on the Upliftment of the Provisional Suspension on Certain Conditions from Office of Magistrate K Bodlani, an Acting Regional Magistrate At Umlazi (Emlazi), Kwazulu-Natal, Dated 28 February 2024.

 

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, having considered the request by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development to uplift the provisional suspension from office of Magistrate K Bodlani, an Acting Regional Magistrate at Umlazi (eMlazi), KwaZulu-Natal, on certain conditions, reports as follows:

 

1. Ms K Bodlani was appointed to the office of magistrate on 1 October 1996. Since beginning her probation as an Acting Regional Magistrate on 4 November 2013, Ms Bodlani mostly presided in the Sexual Offences Court, Umlazi (eMlazi), Kwa-Zulu Natal.
2. The Minister, on the advice of the Magistrates Commission (“the Commission”), provisionally suspended Ms Bodlani, on 21 July 2020, pending the outcome of an investigation into her fitness to hold office as acting Regional Magistrate in terms of section 13(3)(b) of the Act.
3. Parliament confirmed Ms Bodlani’s provisional suspension: The National Council of Provinces passed a resolution in this regard on 17 September 2020 and the National Assembly passed a resolution on 19 March 2021.
4. On 29 March 2023, the Acting Regional Court President, KwaZulu-Natal, wrote to the Commission requesting that Ms Bodlani’s provisional suspension be lifted for her to attend to the reconstruction of a court record relating to a case over which she presided. The accused in the matter had filed an appeal in the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court and, on 6 May 2022, the High Court had ordered, among others, as follows:

1. The appeal is hereby adjourned sine die.

4. The court a quo must reconvene with a view to reconstruct the record pertaining to the outstanding evidence with reference to the presiding officer’s notes.

5. The magistrate must record the responses and attitude of the prosecutor and the appellant to the evidence recorded in the notes which must be read into the record and a typed copy attached to the reconstruction proceedings.

8. The reconstruction must be done jointly, in open court, by the magistrate, the prosecutor, the accused (the appellant), with a proper record of the reconstruction proceedings being kept.

10. The reconstructed record (5 copies) is to be returned to the Registrar, High Court, Pietermaritzburg not later than (3) months from the date of this order”.

 

1. The Commission recommended that Ms Bodlani’s suspension from office be lifted in terms of section 13(1)(g)(i) of the Magistrates Act, 1993, to comply with the High Court order, and pending the conclusion of the inquiry into her fitness to hold office, on the following conditions:

1. Ms Bodlani only deals with the reconstruction of the record of the Emlazi Regional Court case, the State versus Clement Mbuso Ndlovu, case number RC 249/13, to comply with the order of the High Court;
2. she be instructed to attend thereto as a matter of urgency;
3. she must not conduct herself in a manner that compromises the integrity of the judiciary and brings the administration of justice into disrepute;
4. she is not assigned any other cases to deal with; and
5. the Regional Court President, KZN, provide regular reports to the Commission on whether Ms Bodlani is abiding by the conditions of the liftment of her provisional suspension and the progress of the reconstruction of the court record as required by the High Court.

 

1. The Commission indicated that it had been advised that Ms Bodlani has no outstanding part-heard matters.

 

1. In his letter dated 29 November 2023, the Minister advised that he had received the Commission’s recommendation that Ms Bodlani’s suspension be lifted on certain conditions and that Parliament be approached to consider uplifting the suspension, which he supports.

 

Recommendation

1. Having considered the Minister’s request that Parliament uplift the provisional suspension on certain conditions from office of Magistrate K Bodlani, an acting Regional Magistrate at Umlazi (eMlazi), KwaZulu-Natal, the Committee recommends that the National Assembly approves the upliftment of the suspension with the following conditions, namely that:

1. Ms Bodlani only deal with the reconstruction of the record of the Emlazi Regional Court case, the State versus Clement Mbuso Ndlovu, case number RC 249/13, to comply with the order of the High Court;
2. she be instructed to attend thereto as a matter of urgency;
3. she must not conduct herself in a manner that compromises the integrity of the judiciary and brings the administration of justice into disrepute;
4. she is not assigned any other cases to deal with; and
5. the Regional Court President, KZN, provide regular reports to the Commission on whether Ms Bodlani is abiding by the conditions of the liftment of her provisional suspension and the progress of the reconstruction of the court record as required by the High Court. The liftment is for two weeks after the adoption of the report by the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.   

 

Report to be considered