Allegations of racial slurs and surprise documents emerged in Judge Nkola Motata’s drunken-driving trial at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Paulinah Mashilela — a metro police officer who attended to the January 6 2007 scene of the judge’s accident — alleged that Motata had been called a ”drunken kaffir”.
Senior Johannesburg metro police officials and director of public prosecutions Charin de Beer were present during Tuesday’s proceedings.
Mashilela also said portions of previous statements attributed to her were not her words. She produced another affidavit she said corroborated her allegation that she had been threatened by the prosecution.
On Monday, Mashilela told the court she had been threatened with losing her job and going to jail. She said she had filed an affidavit about the alleged threats.
Opening proceedings on Tuesday, magistrate Desmond Nair said that after an hour-long discussion with the state, the prosecution and De Beer it was decided the prosecution would stay on.
De Beer would hold further discussions with Mashilela about her concerns.
After a request by Motata’s legal team, the affidavit about the alleged threats was entered into the record as evidence.
During her cross-examination by the defence, Mashilela — dressed in a red jacket, black top and elaborate silver necklace — said on the night of the accident, Richard Baird, the owner of the Hurlingham, Johannesburg, property into whose wall Motata crashed, had described the judge as a ”drunken kaffir”.
She said at the accident scene, while Motata was present but some distance away, Baird had told his tenant Lucky Melk that the judge was a ”drunken kaffir”.
”There is a certain portion not on the tape where the owner says he is a drunken kaffir,” she said.
She said the words were spoken just before Motata can be heard, on a cellphone recording taken at the accident scene, saying Baird is ”not a nice person”.
Mashilela also said she was ”not sure” if the judge had been drinking the night of the accident and that she still did not know how the accident happened.
Defence advocate Danie Dorfling said if Motata were to give evidence to the court, he would say the accident happened when he was trying to execute a U-turn on the partially blocked-off road.
Mashilela also said she could hear a voice on a the cellphone recording saying in Afrikaans: ”Nee, maar hulle moet hom toesluit. Ek meen, hy sluit mense toe vir dieselfde storie [No, but they must lock him up, I mean he locks people up for the same story].”
Mashilela said it might be Baird’s voice. However, she said she was ”uncertain” about this identification.
She also said Motata, who faces charges of defeating the ends of justice for allegedly resisting arrest, cooperated with her throughout the night of the accident. ”Motata cooperated with me right through to the end, except for the fact he did not want to stop talking,” she said.
Mashilela also said, although she had never read them, certain notes in her possession from a consultation with the state were inaccurate.
She said she was given the notes before her previous court appearance on September 15 ”to remind me what to say”. However, she said she did not use them at all.
”I did not look at those papers because I only told myself I will tell the court the truth what has happened. There is no truth in those papers,” she said.
A sworn statement attributed to her and in her own handwriting was, in fact, an amalgamation of the perspectives of four police officers who were on the scene of the accident, she said.
She had been ”forced” to write out the statement because the police needed it.
Prosecutor Zaais van Zyl said he wanted to question Mashilela on discrepancies between some of her testimony and statements she had made.
Some time into this process, magistrate Nair adjourned proceedings until Wednesday to give Mashilela time to read the notes she said she had not read, but said were untrue.
It also emerged in court that a new statement by an unknown witness was handed to the defence on Tuesday.
Speaking after court, De Beer said Mashilela had made ”serious allegations about senior staff members” in her affidavit.
She said Mashilela had asked her to open a docket about the matter, which would be done.
De Beer said after considering all the options, ”I’m satisfied that the prosecution can proceed”.
Also speaking outside the court, Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said he, along with metro police director of operations David Tembe and chief Chris Ngcobo, had attended proceedings on Tuesday so Mashilela could feel confident, relaxed and not threatened while giving evidence.
”So that the truth can prevail,” he said. — Sapa