Judicial transparency: Justice Ledwaba's integrity under scrutiny over bribery claims

The Amalgamated Lawyers Association (ALA) has raised serious concerns regarding the integrity of the South African judiciary as it calls for Acting Judge President (AJP), Justice Aubrey Ledwaba to clarify allegations linking him to a R2.5 million bribery scheme. This scheme allegedly involved efforts to influence the bail decision for murder accused Katiso KT Molefe.

This week, Chief Justice Mandisa Maya confirmed that Ledwaba had declined to take voluntary leave amidst the growing controversy. The allegations emerged from the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, which is investigating political interference in police affairs. During the hearings, testimony from "Witness A" suggested that an informer revealed that R2.5 million had been set aside to help secure bail for Molefe, who stands accused of murdering Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart.

This week, “Witness A” told the commission that an informer had revealed that a payment of R2.5 million was reserved to secure Molefe’s bail for the murder of Vereeniging engineer, Armand Swart.

Swart, a Q-Tech employee was gunned down in a hail of bullets outside his company premises in Vereeniging in April 2024. His hit came after his company had flagged gross misconduct involving massive price hikes over a Transnet Freight Rail tender linked to Molefe and his nephew, Lucky Molefe.

Meanwhile, Witness B also revealed that Lucky was the one who ordered a hit on Swart. On Wednesday, Maya said she advised Ledwaba to take special leave to allow the matter to be resolved before returning to work.

However, Ledwaba refused this suggestion and professed his innocence against these allegations, with the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) saying Ledwaba has denied receiving money to influence Molefe’s relaxed bail conditions.

“AJP has also indicated that he is seeking legal advice and expressed a wish to be afforded an opportunity to give his side of the story at the Madlanga Commission.

“The judiciary acknowledges its obligation to ensure that appropriate action is taken expeditiously where any judicial officer is found to have acted unlawfully or unethically and reasserts its commitment to its duty to serve all South Africans with impartiality and integrity,” the OCJ said.

Takalani Ramanyimi, the secretary general of the Amalgamated Lawyers Association called on Ledwaba to come clean and take South Africans into his confidence in order to preserve the integrity of the country’s justice system.

"The Amalgamated Lawyers Association is of the firm view that Ledwaba AJP must as a matter of exigency take members of the public, legal profession and judiciary into his confidence and thus, proffer an explanation in order to preserve the Judiciary's integrity which is conspicuously under attack, Ramanyimi stated. 

Ramanyimi also urged the witnesses who have implicated Ledwaba in the scheme to take the matter up with the Judicial Service Commission, as the appropriate body to investigate these allegations.

"On the other hand, we urge "witness A" to take advantage of the proper procedure as set out in section 14 (1) of the JSC Act 9, of 1994 since the Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa has no empowering provision in law, to suspend Ledwaba AJP, save in circumstances wherein the President would suspend a Judge who is subject of a procedure in terms of section 177 (1) read with subsection (3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa."

The outcry over the possible collusion between the justice system and Molefe, a key figure in the alleged hits on DJs Sumbody, his two bodyguards and other artists come just two weeks after Molefe was granted a R 400, 000 bail by the Johannesburg High Court.

Molefe approached the high court in a bid to appeal an earlier ruling by the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court which had denied his bail application in September for his involvement in the alleged murders of DJ Sumbody and his bodyguards.