By Zweli Martin Dlamini

As a critic of Judge Justice Mavuso, an alleged ally of Chief Justice(CJ) Bheki Maphalala, well,I must admit that the Honorable Judge has surprised me with three(3) recent fair judgements.

Firstly, the Judge dismissed an urgent application by former Ndzingeni Member of Parliament(MP) Lutfo Ephraim Dlamini who was challenging the then aspiring MP Bhekithemba Magagula, Dlamini was citing the Constitution suggesting that, a civil servant cannot participate in elections without a letter of absence from the employer being government.

But Judge Mavuso dismissed the application and concluded that,it would be absurd for one to have and present a letter of absence, on the day of nomination because one attends not knowing whether he/she will or not be nominated.

Before the delivery of the judgement,I was one of those who was not sure whether the Judge will be fair but after reading the judgement, it became clear that the judgement by Judge Mavuso made a lot of sense.

It is possible to aspire to be nominated as an MP only to find that, the people are rejecting you hence, the sentiments of the Judge suggesting that the letter of absence could only be relevant after the nomination were a perfect interpretation of the law and fair.

A Judge cannot be regarded as fair if he/she has ruled according to the expectations of certain individuals but, the judgement itself must be in the interest of justice.

On Saturday,Richard Velaphi Sangweni who was a vocal resident of eKutsimuleni, challenging Rogers Mamba,the corrupt Indvuna who grabs land from poor and powerless citizens of that area, was buried peacefully after Judge Mavuso’s ruling.

The Judge visited the area for an inspection in loco and this, enabled the Judge to obtain or witness evidence on the ground before delivering the judgement, again the Judge delivered a fair ruling and Sangweni was buried on Saturday morning.

About two(2) days ago, residents of Mafucula whose multimillion sugarcane project was grabbed by BatfwabeNkhosi of KaShewula contacted me in a joyful ‘mood’, saying they might be reinstated back to their project after a court judgement.

Well, I haven’t read the Mafucula judgement but if it’s stopped the greedy BatfwaBeNkhosi of kaShewula from grabbing the sugarcane project,then it’s fair.

Judge Mavuso is an ally to CJ Bheki Maphalala and he has been corruptly using him to manipulate the law and ‘sell’ justice  but where he has acted in the interest of justice, we will commend and applaud him.

The courts must protect the powerless and we have good Judges in this country, even the CJ himself writes impressive judgments, unfortunately this only happens in cases where he doesn’t have vested interests.