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Ronnie Rambau.

Rambau appeals to Constitutional Court

Date: 20 February 2015 By: Isabel Venter

The case of a former senior regional magistrate from Makhado (Louis Trichardt), who is accused of accepting a bribe to influence a court case, was postponed for the umpteenth time.

Ronnie Rambau appeared in the Messina Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 2 February, together with his co-accused, ex-prosecutor Estene Willemse and attorney Tivoneleni Edmond Lubisi. The trio made the headlines three years ago when Rambau was arrested during a police trap. They were charged with corruption for allegedly influencing several court cases by means of predetermining the outcome and accepting money for these.

The case against Rambau, Willemse and Lubisi took an unexpected turn during a previous court appearance when Rambau asked the presiding magistrate to withdraw from the case. Rambau claimed that the magistrate had befriended some of the state witnesses and that this could have a negative influence on the outcome of his trial.

When this application was dismissed, Rambau turned to both the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeals, who also dismissed his application to have the magistrate withdrawn from the case.

At the beginning of the year, Rambau approached the Constitutional Court with the same application. This will mean that his criminal case will be put on hold until a decision is made by the court. At this stage, it is not known when the Constitutional Court will hear Rambau’s application and give a ruling.

In the meantime, the newspaper was able to confirm last week that Rambau is no longer a magistrate. His previous employer, the Magistrate’s Commission, confirmed on Friday (13th) that Rambau resigned on 6 October 2014. “Because Mr Rambau does not hold the office of magistrate anymore, it follows that the commission will not pursue their disciplinary hearing against him, and have closed their file in the matter,” said the commissions secretary, Mr Dawie Schoeman, in an email.

 
 
 

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Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

 
 

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