Chief Magistrate Sakkie Scheepers last week lashed out at the Makhado Municipality after the municipality brought an urgent application that the local magistrate and prosecutor should recuse themselves from the “painted statue” case.

This follows the arrest of a 24-year-old suspect and his subsequent court appearance on Friday afternoon, November 18, in the local magistrate’s court. Minutes before his court appearance, during which the case against him was withdrawn, the municipality brought an urgent application before Chief Magistrate Scheepers that, amongst other things, read:

“An urgent application is hereby lodged with you to appoint a neutral magistrate and prosecutor in all cases which involve the painting of the statue of King Makhado, the road signs and the entrance gate at the Civic Centre (Makhado), as well as the robbery which involved the statue of Louis Trichardt.”

As for the reason for bringing the application, the municipality stated that the whole painting saga has generated a lot of interest, not only in this region, but even on national level.

“We view the painting to be both politically and racially motivated to the extent that all people within the jurisdiction of this municipality have an interest in it, whether directly or indirectly. It is our view that all inhabitants of this municipality, including the current magistrate and prosecutor, have vested interest in these matters. We therefore submit that a neutral magistrate and prosecutor must be appointed for all the said cases. We are equally opposed to any bail application which may be granted to the accused under the present magistrate and prosecutor of the local Magistrate’s Court,” the application reads.

After reading the document, an infuriated Mr Scheepers went on record as saying that the municipality should not think that it will be able to interfere with the course of justice in this case by bringing such an application. He said that the judiciary is and will remain independent and that he would, under no circumstances, tolerate any interference.