MBABANE:Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala might soon be impeached by the newly appointed Judicial Service Commission(JSC) on allegations of corruption and/or abuse of power.
It has been disclosed that, Justice Minister Prince Simelane has been holding a series of meetings in preparation for the impeachment, Mangaliso Magagula, the President of the Law of Eswatini(LSE) is highly expected to be part of the panel that will impeach the Chief Justice.
“The JSC has not been sworn-in because immediately, the process of impeachment the Chief Justice must commence.There’s a serious fall-out between the CJ and the Justice Minister who has been questioning why the CJ is still in Office after so many corruption scandals”, said a source within the corridors of power and very close to the matter.
Justice Minister Prince Simelane was at Sidvwashini Prison on Friday to welcome Law Society President Mangaliso Magagula who was jailed by Judge Titus Mlangeni on contempt of court charges, the Justice Minister described Magagula as a hero.
“We are here to welcome this hero and we thank God for his release”, he said in a statement that left many wondering what was the connection between the Justice Minister and the Law Society President.
But an independent investigation conducted by this Swaziland News gathered information suggesting that, lawyer Mangaliso Magagula was slowly becoming closer to the powers that be, “he is one brave lawyer who has been openly criticizing Judges including the Chief Justice for alleged corruption”.
But lawyer Magagula’s proximity to those in power became more visible after the Justice Minister welcomed him from prison, the Justice Minister is alleged to have secretly visited Magagula at Sidvwashini to offer him support even before his public appearances on Friday afternoon where he openly declared support for the Law Society President.
Efforts to seek a comment from the Justice Minister proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
But an insider very close to the Justice Minister told this publication that, when Attorney General(AG) Sifiso Khumalo announced the new JSC on behalf of King Mswati, Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala’s name was not mentioned, instead it was the position that was appointed.
“This means the King appointed anyone who might hold the position of Chief Justice as the Chairman of the Judicial Service Commission in accordance with the Constitution. The appointment of the JSC does not mean the impeachment process has been abandoned, in fact the JSC has been mandated to deal with the Chief Justice.The impeachment of the CJ was supposed to commence under the then Justice Minister Pholile Dlamini-Shakantu but the Chief Justice was able to manage the situation. Now, its Prince Simelane and the current Minister is very principled, the CJ will be impeached,” said the insider.
Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala had not responded to our questions at the time of compiling this report.
Reached for comments by this Swaziland News on Monday morning, Wandile Dludlu, the Deputy President of the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO) said, the Chief Justice might be proving to be too strong to be removed particularly because, he “feels he has worked for the regime” and even compromised his personal integrity in defense of the Tinkhundla system of governance.
“The Chief Justice is, and has been a loyal servant of the regime and he has been loyal by manipulating the law to arrest political activists and do all the dirty work for the regime. So now he feels he was used and will not go down without a fight,” said the PUDEMO Deputy President.
Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala.