Some of you may be wondering why I have posted, this clearly political issue on my Business Blog. Well the answer is quite simple - there is a lesson to be learned here for the SMME. Firstly, all your staff need to be treated in the same manner - you cannot play favorites or it will cause dissention in the ranks!

Secondly, it's all about perception - trust takes a lifetime to build and it can be destroyed in a nano second by a hint of a rumour or the percetion of a slight! The relationships that you build with your clients take a long time. You could lose them all in the blink of an eye. Be careful what you do. Make sure that your actions are honerable. Be sure that you are sending out the right message to your clients.

'Some more equal than others before the law'
February 28 2007 at 05:03PM
By Susan Featherstone

On Friday 5th January a silver jaguar crashed into the wall of a Hurlingham property north of Johannesburg. The man behind the wheel was a Pretoria High Court judge and according to witnesses at the scene he was "drunk, argumentative, loud and swearing like a trooper". He allegedly resisted arrest and was put in a police car by five metro police officers.

The identity of the judge was withheld but the media was told he had been charged with drunken driving and malicious damage to property and was released on R1 000 bail after spending the night in the Parkview police cells.


No breathalyser test was done on the judge but a blood sample was taken. Police have continued to dodged questions on whether the blood samples have returned from the state laboratory. The judge denies that he was drunk at the time of the accident and said that he had been "drinking tea" that night.

On February 27th Judge Nkola Motata should have appeared in an open court to face the charges of drunken driving but was instead allowed to appear behind closed doors in the magistrate's chambers at the Hillbrow magistrate's court. Accusations of preferential treatment are circulating in the media since this unusual step was taken, so IOL asked its readers: Are prominent people accused of crime given special treatment?

Of the 805 people who voted on the IOL poll, 780 (97 percent) believe VIPs are treated differently, while 25 people (3 percent) believe they are not. A few comments from the poll:

DF:

Nah, that's just a perception... like the one that crime is out of control!

Craig:

Hilarious that this "esteemed judge" should not face the media in court. Would he ever grant a private hearing to an ordinary South African under similar circumstances? I think not. Kick him out for good, strip him of all power and then throw him into prison. With all his profanities, along with his high and mighty above the law attitude, we'll soon see how big his mouth is.

Mandrake:

Stupid question: is the sky blue? does fire burn? does money make the world go round? the more money you have, the more influence you have, the better lawyer you afford, the more influence he has over the processes of justice. Next question please.

Richard:

A big Yes. Cover ups, cover ups, and more cover ups... the country is full of examples, too many to mention here. Just goes to show how poor, ineffective, and inefficient our justice system is... with a corrupt government behind them, what do you expect.

Anonymous:

Like I said previously, the rich get away with everything. Money will always talk and the poor will have to pay. Yengeni, Waterkloof 4, Shaik, Zuma - money talks. They will pay for special treatment, etc. It is becoming a joke.

Godfather:

Is this question for real? There's no justice at all in South Africa! Prisoners in SA get weekends away to spend with family. What kind of justice is this? Other countries are laughing at us.

Lorenzo:

Look at our legal system and the Judiciary. It’s a mess. I'm surprised so many of our judges manage to remain sober. Hey this is South Africa, get with the programme, anything goes except the rule of law... and that includes our judges as well.

Soprano:

"Justice handled them equally"? Since when do prisoners go to private hospitals? Since when do prisoners spend less than 10 percent of their sentences, get to visit home on weekends and stuff? Since when do prisoners get backing from SACP & Cosatu having followers carrying cards with the face of the accuser - publicly displaying her identity? Don't even mention Thatcher, that was not a trial!... why didn't you count this "Drunken Maser" judge... can anyone prove he has really indeed appeared in court?