CHIEF Justice Luke Malaba yesterday warned osiphatheleni
and other people involved in illegal activities around Tredgold Building, which
houses the Bulawayo Magistrates Courts, saying there was an urgent need for them
to be permanently flushed out of the area.
In 2018, while commissioning three additional courtrooms at
the Bulawayo High Court, the country’s top judge bemoaned illegal foreign
currency exchange activities around the environs of Tredgold Building resulting
in police clamping down on illegal forex dealers. Police also sealed the parking area around
the building. The operation was however
short-lived and osiphatheleni have since returned.
Yesterday, CJ Malaba urged Bulawayo Provincial Affairs
Minister Judith Ncube and the city council to find a permanent solution to the
problem of osiphatheleni.
He said illegal activities being carried out on the
doorstep of Tredgold Building compromised the delivery of the country’s justice
system.
“There can never be a marriage between illegality and
justice so activities of an illegal nature must never be part and parcel of the
justice system be it externally or internally. We hope that those activities in
the environs or surroundings of Tredgold Building that are not wholesome must
be stopped and I don’t think we should have a compromise on that issue,” he
said.
“I, for one, want to see the Resident Minister and the
powers-that-be of Bulawayo dealing with this illegality once and for all and
ensure that this environment is healthy, respects and protects justice.”
CJ Malaba said it was not a healthy situation to have
illegal activities taking place on the doorstep of the courts.
“I find it difficult to understand that you can have people
allowing illegal changing of money outside this building and sometimes inside
the building and it’s seen as normal. This is a fountain of justice; a temple
of justice and we all know what Jesus said when he got to the temple and found
activities that were not healthy. He put a bit of some switch and I won’t do
that, but I think my tongue is enough,” he said.
CJ Malaba, who was on tour of Tredgold Building to assess
progress on the ongoing refurbishment of courtrooms and magisterial offices,
commended the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works for complementing
their efforts.
“The refurbishment of Tredgold is a reflection of
Government efforts and we are here to enforce Government policy. The Judicial
Service Commission (JSC) is not an isolated organisation working on its own, it
is an organisation that embraces all the policies of Government,” he said.
“Access to justice is a fundamental principle and we are
saying the speedy delivery of justice, and at the same time in an ambient
health environment must reflect the dignity of human beings and their
aspirations. There has never been a society without courts in this world and
even our own societies have always had courts and mechanisms of delivering
justice.”
The Chief Justice said the environment in which justice is
delivered should be healthy and attractive to the public.
“It is not JSC alone seeking to deliver justice to other
people, we must be symbiotic in that relationship to ensure that we are
understood and people are confident of the judicial system. The refurbishments
of the courts in the isolation of the whole building is helpless and futile
because justice must be holistic. You can’t approach a building and expect it
to be a temple of justice only to look for a particular office or court in a
sea of chaos,” he said. Chronicle
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