1. The Select Committee noted that the Minister provisionally suspended Mr Nhleko from office on 13 April 2005 in terms of section 13(3)(a) of the Magistrates Act, 1993.
2. The Select Committee further noted that Mr Nhleko was suspended de facto by the Magistrates Commission since 3 December 2004, a date prior to the Minister’s decision and therefore in contravention of the provisions of section 13(3)(a)(i) of the Magistrates Act which reads - "The Minister, on the advice of the Commission, may provisionally suspend a magistrate from office if the Commission, after affording the magistrate a reasonable opportunity to be heard regarding the desirability of such provisional suspension, is satisfied that reliable evidence exists indicating that an allegation against that magistrate is of such serious nature as to make it inappropriate for the magistrate to perform the functions of a magistrate while the allegation is being investigated;".
3. The Select Committee considered the possibility of condoning the de facto suspension, however considered that this would be legally tenuous and in any event would not have complied with the requirement of section 13(3)(e) in that an inquiry had not been initiated by the Magistrates Commission within 60 days of the de facto suspension.
4. In terms of section 13(3)(c) of the Magistrates Act, Parliament must, as soon as possible, pass a resolution as to whether or not the provisional suspension of Mr Nhleko is confirmed. The Select Committee is of the opinion that the procedures prescribed by the Magistrates Act, 1993 (Act 90 of 1993) were not followed and accordingly recommends that the House resolves not to confirm the provisional suspension of Mr M J S Nhleko.

Report to be considered.