(MENAFN- The Post)
LERIBE
THE late Advocate Cobony Malokotsa, who was buried in Tsikoane last Saturday, has been described as a“fierce defender of justice” who was results-oriented.
Advocate Malokotsa, 47, who died on December 22 last year after a brief illness, left behind his wife and two children.
Speaking at a memorial service organised in his honour a few days before the burial, his brother Lehlohonolo Malokotsa, told friends and colleagues that Advocate Malokotsa fell ill in August last year
He was admitted at Queen 'Mamohato Memorial Hospital where he was eventually discharged.
He said his brother reacted to some medication which he bought at a chemist in Hlotse after a bout of flu.
“One of the pills he got affected his body as he started having allergies then he went to Queen 'Mamohato Memorial Hospital where he was admitted,” he said.
Sometime after he was discharged from the hospital, he attended a funeral on December 21 and also had some drinks with friends.
After that, he said, Advocate Malokotsa“felt some stomach pains and suspected that it could be allergies again”.Advertisement
When he went to check on him the next day, he found him slumped on a chair, dead.
There were signs that he had vomited before he died.
“The postmortem results show that the intestines were torn and this was due to the acid which turned into poison,” he said.
Northern Region prosecutors and correctional service warders said they will remember Advocate Malokotsa as a“stubborn” and persistent prosecutor who was results-oriented.
They said Advocate Malokotsa would often stand his ground, telling truth to power, even if that meant that disciplinary action could be taken against him
Senior Superintendent Mopeli from the Lesotho Correctional Services said he did not like Advocate Malokotsa when he first met him a couple of years ago viewing him as someone who was disrespectful.
S/Supt Mopeli said Advocate Malokotsa would never beat about the bush when he wanted something to happen.
“He would tell Chief Magistrate Kabi face-to-face that he would never stand to attend the endless meetings where they would reach certain agreements then later change everything,” he said.
“He would always arrive late at meetings but would be first to leave, telling us that we were taking too long as he had clients to attend in court,” he said.
S/Supt Mopeli said it took him time to accept Advocate Malokotsa's character“until we realised that what he had always said was true”.
Advocate Molemohi Ndebele, a prosecutor who worked with Advocate Malokotsa, said the deceased was constantly fighting to improve the working conditions of prosecutors
Advocate Ndebele said prosecutors are working under extremely difficult conditions.
He said there is no stationery, printing machines are not functioning, and they are sometimes forced to use their own money in order to perform their work.
He said even their state of their office furniture is embarrassing.
“We have to be careful whenever we have to sit on the chairs. We get embarrassed when we have to tell clients to be careful when they sit on our chairs to avoid falling,” he said.
He also complained of a huge backlog of cases, saying the demise of Advocate Malokotsa has worsened the situation
He said there were only three prosecutors in Leribe before Advocate Malokotsa died.
“Cases are delaying to be finalised because there is a shortage of prosecutors,” he said.
He called on the authorities to hire more prosecutors.
He said four prosecutors from Leribe became magistrates and they have not been replaced.
“Now we are only two,” he said
“I have been a prosecutor for 23 years and I definitely know the pressure you are working under.
“I am in your shoes and I know exactly what you are going through,” Advocate Motinyane said.
She said Law and Justice Minister Richard Ramoeletsi has already worked on some of the issues they had raised.
“We are not hiring for ourselves, if we had a right to hire, we could have hired a lot of prosecutors and our work could have been so smooth,” she said.
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