JUSTICE Minister Jeff Radebe yesterday became entangled in a verbal altercation with a journalist in Cape Town when the journo expressed unhappiness over the minister's responses to questions from the media.
Radebe, who is normally calm in his dealings with journalists, snapped in Parliament when Beeld political journalist James Styan shot down as "nonsensical" Radebe's attempt to justify the questionable performance of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Radebe had been asked whether he was satisfied with the performance of the NPA after it recently lost high-profile court cases such as the Fidentia finance scandal, the dropping of drunk-driving charges against Robert McBride and the clearing of NPA staff member Glynnis Breytenbach of 15 charges.
"I am satisfied that they are doing a good job, if you look at the number of people that our courts convict on a daily basis. You look at the number of prisoners who are in our courts, there's a complaint that there's overcrowding in our prisons," said Radebe.
"So the few cases that you are sort of elevating are insignificant compared to thousands of cases that the NPA successfully prosecutes in our courts. In any event, the judgments that are made in court are from the independent judiciary, so our system works."
But this did not sit well with Styan, who argued that Radebe's reasoning was "nonsensical" because overcrowding in jails had previously been attributed in part to the accused waiting periods before their cases went on trial.
"Sir, with all due respect, you are not answering any of our questions, and by saying that your greatest source of proof that your department is doing its job is the amount of people in jail is nonsensical simply because 50000 in jail are awaiting trial," said Styan.
A visibly annoyed Radebe lost his cool before his press conference came to an abrupt end with these words: "I don't think you know what you are talking about. Just take the issue of rape. Our courts have given about 62 life sentences in the last financial year.
"So the nonsense you are talking about is with you, not with the system!"
Minister and journalist in verbal spat
JUSTICE Minister Jeff Radebe yesterday became entangled in a verbal altercation with a journalist in Cape Town when the journo expressed unhappiness over the minister's responses to questions from the media.
Radebe, who is normally calm in his dealings with journalists, snapped in Parliament when Beeld political journalist James Styan shot down as "nonsensical" Radebe's attempt to justify the questionable performance of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Radebe had been asked whether he was satisfied with the performance of the NPA after it recently lost high-profile court cases such as the Fidentia finance scandal, the dropping of drunk-driving charges against Robert McBride and the clearing of NPA staff member Glynnis Breytenbach of 15 charges.
"I am satisfied that they are doing a good job, if you look at the number of people that our courts convict on a daily basis. You look at the number of prisoners who are in our courts, there's a complaint that there's overcrowding in our prisons," said Radebe.
"So the few cases that you are sort of elevating are insignificant compared to thousands of cases that the NPA successfully prosecutes in our courts. In any event, the judgments that are made in court are from the independent judiciary, so our system works."
But this did not sit well with Styan, who argued that Radebe's reasoning was "nonsensical" because overcrowding in jails had previously been attributed in part to the accused waiting periods before their cases went on trial.
"Sir, with all due respect, you are not answering any of our questions, and by saying that your greatest source of proof that your department is doing its job is the amount of people in jail is nonsensical simply because 50000 in jail are awaiting trial," said Styan.
A visibly annoyed Radebe lost his cool before his press conference came to an abrupt end with these words: "I don't think you know what you are talking about. Just take the issue of rape. Our courts have given about 62 life sentences in the last financial year.
"So the nonsense you are talking about is with you, not with the system!"
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