Court officials under the hammer in Meyiwa trial over conduct

The conduct of court officials in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial has again come under the spotlight at the High Court in Pretoria.

Presiding Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng raised concerns regarding court etiquette and decorum.

This follows an altercation between defence counsel Charles Mnisi and state witness Brigadier Bongani Gininda yesterday.

This happened during cross examination when Gininda requested Mnisi to be respectful when addressing him.

Judge Mokgoatlheng says some counsels don’t even respect him as the presiding judge.

“Counsel’s telling a judge that, when a judge makes an order in court, call him Colonel Stein, even if you don’t want to because the judge was in charge of the proceedings here, he says you must do so. You’ve got to obey that. But I was told to jump into the sea. You’re mad. That’s the conduct we have here. And when I make remarks sometimes about our black counsels, attorneys, maybe judges. I’m told this one is mad.”