ANY judicial officer facing serious charges in court should not be adjudicating justice for the community.

Those are the words of Victor Ratshibvumo, president of the Judicial Officers' Association of South Africa.

Ratshibvumo was referring to two acting magistrates who have been charged with armed robbery and possession of stolen property.

"We don't know how far the process has gone with the Magistrate's Commission, but when you look at the precedence on all the cases, when any judicial officer is facing serious charges that might impact on the good name of the judicial officer we do not recommend that that person jump from the bench to the dock and from the dock back to the bench."

Ratshibvumo echoed Department of Justice spokesman Tlali Tlali's sentiments, who has said: "It would be exceptionally difficult to justify their continued stay in office as acting judicial officers given the reality that they face criminal charges."

Ratshibvumo also said the final decision on their future depended on the conclusion of their cases and an inquiry to be conducted by the Magistrate's Commission.

Turagale Sejwane and Rhodes Thuwe appeared in the Krugersdorp Magistrate's Court last week on charges of armed robbery and possession of suspected stolen property.

Both men were granted bail and are expected back in court next month.

Thuwe faces a possession of stolen property charge after he was found driving a car that had been reported stolen. He received R5,000 bail. Sejwane faces the same charge with the additional charge of armed robbery with aggravating circumstances. He also received R5,000 bail.

Sejwane was identified by employees at a junk yard in Krugersdorp as one of the men who had stolen a car in March this year at the company and was in possession of a gun while doing so.

Sejwane denied the claims. Thuwe and Sejwane were arrested on April 4 when they were seen in the car.

Thuwe, who admitted to being the driver of the vehicle, said he had borrowed the car from a friend and both men insisted that they did not know it was a stolen vehicle.

Thuwe was acting magistrate at GaRankuwa, north-west of Pretoria, while Sejwane held the same position in Brits, in North West.

Ratshibvumo stressed that the two accused were acting magistrates and had not been officially appointed to their positions. But they are judicial officers and he hoped they would be treated in the same way as any other citizens.

"We hope the two acting magistrates will be presumed innocent until proven guilty in court like any other person. They ought not to be demonised as though they are already guilty," he said.

He added that if they were convicted, the Judicial Officers' Association expected the full Wrath of the law be applied to them due to the seriousness of the crimes.

The men were granted bail due to their being the sole breadwinners in their families as well as not being flight risks.

"It is a very sad day when things of this nature happen because the names of magistrates or judicial officers as a whole will be tarnished," Ratshibvumo said.

Sejwane had to hand in his passport as well as report to the Roodepoort police station every Friday between 6am and 8pm.

He cannot directly or indirectly communicate with the employees at the junk yard where the car was allegedly stolen. Sejwane also has to appear at every postponement until the case is finalised. Thuwe received similar bail conditions.

Throughout the bail application hearings Sejwane had a bandage on his head and told the court that he had been assaulted by the police. He refused to say whether he would lay charges.