'O tla imentioner' effects felt in courtrooms everywhere
Lebogang Mosikare | Friday February 23, 2018 17:26
FRANCISTOWN: Although no reasonable person can applaud Mmutlenyane Ramogaladi for utterly disrespecting Magistrate Ginnai Jensen and the whole judicial system at large, the man still became a trendsetter.
For some, he became a pseudohero after his illegally recorded video telling Jensen ‘O tla imentioner’, Ramogaladi’s words instantly trended on social media.
Journalists and members of the public are now left to bear the brunt of Ramogaladi’s devil-may-care attitude, which for godsake should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
Since the unfortunate incident of Ramogaladi’s Hollywood blockbuster-like court stunt, which although commonplace, Magistrate Jensen has since imposed a ban on members of the public and journalists from attending Ramogaladi’s court mentions.
No media outlet has since then reported about Ramogaladi’s alleged rape case after the learned magistrate imposed the embargo.
The scribes, who are all in agreement that an investigation should have been conducted to find out who recorded the video, say that they are now clueless about developments in Ramogaladi’s case, even when he will appear in court since his case in now held in camera.
As an alternative, Jensen could have made an order for Ramogaladi to receive strokes for showing her, the whole judicial system, the media, the public, especially relatives of the alleged rape victim who have a vested interest in the matter, the middle-finger.
A magistrate in Francistown went with the above option after a prison escapee, Gaomodimo Molosiwa, disrespected his authority in court.
Molosiwa attracted the wrath of Magistrate Ishmael Molobe after he said that his charge of escaping from lawful custody should be dismissed and only be reinstated after Charlotte Ndlovu - a deceased inmate who was also charged with escaping from lawful custody and murder - has resurrected.
To the dismay of people in the public gallery, Molosiwa added that after Ndlovu has resurrected, his trial should be held at Ndlovu’s grave.
Molosiwa’s words did not go down well with prosecutor, Atina Mandigo who said that Molosiwa was not only disrespecting the court, but also various stakeholders who have an interest in the case, including members of the public and ultimately the whole judicial system.
Molosiwa was subsequently sentenced to seven strokes after Mandigo applied that he be sentenced to strokes for being in contempt of court.
Molosiwa has since then mended his ways after he learnt the hard way that the courts should be given the respect they deserve.
The ‘O tla imentioner’ ‘virus’ has ostensibly spread to the Magistrate’s Courts in Francistown - Courtroom 3 to be precise - which was presided over by Cele Lebakeng.
During the initial appearance of Motlatsi Khoto who allegedly murdered his stepdaughter in cold blood in January this year, Lebakeng ordered everyone in court to handover his or her mobile phone to the police.
Although Lebakeng did not precisely give reasons why court attendees should handover their mobile phones to the police, it is not off the mark to presume that the ‘O tla imentioner’ incident may have been her source of indignation.
Inside and outside the courtrooms, notices are always placed at strategic places for everyone to see and read.
The notices notify members of the public to put their phones on silent or indefinitely switch them off. The mobile phones of people who, knowingly or unknowingly, flout these notices are confiscated by the police officer manning a particular courtroom.
The mobile phones are then returned to their owners after the court session.
In worst cases, the magistrates can sometimes order that people who deliberately do not put their phones on silent or switch them off be sent to jail for a few days.
Sending people to jail is at the discretion of a particular magistrate.
It should, however, be noted that the magistrate sporadically sends people to jail for disregarding these notices.
The magistrates usually take punitive decisions against these people after warning them on numerous occasions that their phones were disturbing proceedings of the court.
The magistrates are empowered by law to take such action against people who are found to be in contempt of court in order for court proceedings to go on efficiently and effectively.
Last Friday, Lebakeng again told members of the public who mainly came to court for Khoto’s case to hand over their phones to the police.
The process is usually cumbersome. The court proceedings are stopped to allow people to get out of the court to deliver their handsets to the police.
It is therefore, not off the mark to say that some members of the public who want to spend short periods in court for various reasons are inconvenienced by this arrangement.
This is all thanks (on a serious note) to a rape accused person called Ramogaladi.