Cape Town — The office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) has alerted authorities over someone who allegedly impersonated Constitutional Court judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
In an OCJ statement, the department was made aware of an incident where an unknown person, pretending to be Justice Mbuyiselo Madlanga sent a text message to a senior official of the Electoral Commission of South Africa. The OCJ immediately dismissed the message as an attempt to impersonate Judge Madlanga.
“The OCJ wishes to place it on record that this text message did not come from Justice Madlanga. Justice Madlanga is grateful to the Electoral Commission for alerting him to this impersonation,” it said.
The department said on the same day, a text purporting to have been sent by Madlanga from the same number was received by an official of the SABC.
“The sender was asking for a contact number of a former senior official of the SABC. This text was also not sent by justice Madlanga.” the OCJ said.
This is not the first time that someone has impersonated judge Madlanga. On 19 August 2023, the OCJ confirmed that the impersonator tried to extort money from unsuspecting individuals and intimidate public officials and public office bearers to try and gain access to personal information.
“Several other judges have been impersonated on various occasions over a long period. The OCJ alerted the relevant authorities so that this unseemly behaviour may be brought to a stop and the culprit or culprits brought to book.” it said,
Media Statement – Impersonation of Justice M Madlanga: Justice of the Constitutional Court, 30 May 2024.#JudiciaryZA#ConstitutionalCourt pic.twitter.com/rX6aP3oSvJ
— RSAJudiciary (@OCJ_RSA) May 30, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
