Two South African jurists join CoA

Two South African jurists made their maiden appearance in the local Court of Appeal (CoA) bench at the ongoing session which started last Friday ending on February 17th, when all judgements will be delivered.

A total 52 appeals enrolled, but about five were struck out of the roll for various reasons at the time of calling the roll after the court had made its determination. The two Justices are Johannes Coenrad Froneman and Baaitse Elizabeth Nkabinde.

The duo comes in as replacements for Justices Eric Leach and Lord Arthur Cameron Hamilton who have retired. They are said to be bringing in a wealth of knowledge and experience, particularly on Labour law. They bring a lot of experience to the bench as their CVs are rich in all respects.

According to the CoA president, Tebogo Tau, Justice Froneman was called to the bar in 1978 where he practised as an advocate until 1994 when he became a judge. He served in the Supreme Court from 2003 to 2008. Over the years he has been involved in judicial training of new judges.

Justice Nkabinde was called to the bar in 1990 and practised as advocate until 1999 after which she became a high court judge. She served in the constitutional court of South Africa from 2006 to 2017 before joining the supreme court of Namibia as a Judge of Appeal.

Delivering a statement at the opening of the CoA on Friday, Tau said as the administration they try as much as possible to coincide their sessions with the court vacations in the high court hence their seating in January, well ahead of the opening of the legal year.

She revealed that they will deliver judgments on 17th February, 2023. Further adding that despite these attempts to assist the legal fraternity, there is still some laxity towards timeous execution and attention to basic requirements of fully-fledged case records that would allow for the timeous delivery of judgements per established traditions of the apex court.

Justice Tau said another issue of concern is the emerging trend of premature discussion and without restraint, of matters before court in social and general media. Further that, while they are confident that this will not sway the legal views of the bench and all other well-meaning officers of the court, there is a possibility for the general public to be grossly misled into assuming that Botswana judiciary lacks integrity and is not equal to expectations. This would be very unfortunate.

Tau observed that towards the end of last year, the CoA was seized with a few cases that proved to be of intense public interest because of the characters and stature of the litigants involved. Some similar matters are up for determination and possible conclusion during this session.

“We are taken aback and continue to be concerned that some within our society took advantage of the anxiety that ensued to make reckless and disparaging statements aimed at tainting the credibility of the apex court”.