MEDIA STATEMENT

MEMORIAL SERVICE OF THE LATE NELSPRUIT CHIEF MAGISTRATE A memorial service for the late Nelspruit Chief Magistrate, David Ngobeni will be held at the offices of the Ehlanzeni District Municipality in Nelspruit on Thursday 04 July 2013 starting at 11h00. He will be laid to rest on Saturday 06 July 2013 at Thulamahashe Township outside of Bushbuckridge at 07h00. Mr Ngobeni who served the Justice family for 37 years died on Saturday night after succumbing to a long illness. Minister Radebe said: “The justice family and the people of South Africa have been robbed of a fearless, dedicated, and disciplined servant of the people who, for 37 years of his career, dispensed justice to ordinary citizens as a magistrate”. Mr Ngobeni was appointed as an assistant magistrate at the Giyani Magistrate's Court in 1976, and became Mpumalanga Chief Magistrate in 2001. His commitment and dedication to social Justice and his zero-tolerance to crime and corruption earned him the honour of being appointed by the then Premier of the Mpumalanga Province, Mr Mathews Phosa in 1998 to head the Commission of Inquiry into the alleged corruption in the Office of the Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Legislature at the time, Ms Cynthia Maropeng. “We lost Mr Ngobeni just at the time when we were looking upon him to play a prominent role in the process of the imminent establishment of the High Court for the people of the Mpumalanga Province”, concludes Rabebe. Enquiries Advocate Mthunzi Mhaga Spokesperson for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development 0836418141 Issued by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development: Media Research and Liaison 02 July 2013

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