Bench candidate exposes ‘prejudicial’ courts

During her moving interview yesterday for a position on the bench of the High Court in Johannesburg, Limpopo magistrate Mashudu Munzhelele exposed the challenges of living with a disability and working in the courts.

“I must say that at times I felt like I should give up,” Munzhelele – who was left confined to a wheelchair after a car crash several years ago – told the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) yesterday.

She said the government was not doing enough to make the courts accessible to those living with disabilities.

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Munzhelele is based at the Sibasa regional court in Limpopo, where, she told the JSC yesterday, she had been promised ramps would be installed.

“I can only get from my car to my office and my courtroom,” she said, adding that sometimes, she was forced to move to another courtroom but could not reach the podium there.

“I have to sit where the prosecutor sits.”

Munzhelele detailed how simple tasks like printing documents without a printer in her office and attending meetings on floors she could not access were a real challenge.

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In the main, the panellists had nothing but praise for Munzhelele, with Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng apologising for what she had been through and endeavouring to further investigate the issues she had faced.

She has been recommended for a post alongside Judge Nelisa Mali; advocates Petrus Gcinumuzi Malindi SC and Portia Phahlane; and attorneys Norman Manoim and Mandla Petrus Nathan Mbongwe.