Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng, the presiding officer in the Senzo Meyiwa murder case, has enjoyed more than four sterling decades as an officer of the court. The bulk of this time was spent as a judge before his retirement.
A year ago, the former professional footballer and struggle activist was roped in to preside over the case about the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper that had been bungled for years by police.
Last week, he made headlines for the wrong reasons. Frustrated by the many delays, he lost his cool and made a racial slur: he suggested that a white advocate wouldn’t dare ask to be excused from court to travel from the Comrades Marathon.
The remark caused a social media storm.
Quietly, chief justice Mandisa Maya had a talk with Mokgoatlheng over the weekend. So did his family and friends.
There is likely to be debate about whether blacks can be racist towards each other. But that’s beside the point.
The real point is that on Monday, Mokgoatlheng used the court’s platform to offer an unreserved apology for his inappropriate and offensive remarks. He apologised to the rest of the country including the profession, the accused and the judiciary’s high-up. He also offered to recuse himself if the accused felt they wouldn’t receive a fair trial.
He seemed genuinely shocked at the racism charge.
This rare humility and empathy for the other is unusual in our judiciary. Two examples spring to mind. Mokgoatlheng’s predecessor Tshifhiwa Maumela was yanked out of the case after inordinate delays in delivering judgments, and Nkola Motata, another judge, was impeached for drunk driving into a residential property.
Instead of apologising to the family he wronged, Motata pulled out the race card, which ended his career on the bench.
The lesson from the Mokgoatlheng debacle is simple: judges are also human; they err and deserve second chances.
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