Magistrate threatens incompetent journalists

BULAWAYO Regional Court magistrate Sikhumbuzo Nyathi on Monday attacked court reporters for alleged incompetentence and threatened to have them arrested if they failed to correctly report his court proceedings.

Nyathi's verbal salvo was launched soon after three scribes had entered the court room separately.

"I see members of the press entering this court and I want to warn you that I will not hesitate to order your arrest and lock you up if you report improperly about these proceedings," he said.

"I cannot tolerate such incompetent reporting. In some cases even my names are wrongly spelt.

"If you are writing here, make sure you capture the correct information because I do not want to find myself sanctioning you and your editors or ordering that you be locked up."

Nyathi said he was serious about his threats to lock up journalists that failed to correctly report trials.

He did not make reference to the stories he was unhappy about.

Nyathi has previously threatened to lock up court interpreters for contempt of court after accusing them of making noise.

At one point, he attacked a prison officer and prosecutor for entering the court room with their mobile phones.