Constitutional judge impersonated in text messages sent to IEC and broadcaster

The Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) has distanced itself from text messages claiming to be sent from one of their Constitutional Court judges.

A message sent to a senior official of the Electoral Commission of South Africa on election day was flagged as having come from a suspicious number.

The message was signed off as being from Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga but the OCJ claim it was another attempt to impersonate the judge.

“The OCJ wishes to place it on record that this text message did not come from Justice Madlanga. Justice Madlanga is grateful to the Electoral Commission for alerting him to this impersonation,” the OCJ stated.

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The impersonator’s number has been reported to authorities as the OCJ look to put an end to this reoccurring problem.

Second attempt to impersonate Justice Madlanga  

An official from the state broadcaster received a message from the same number earlier on election day asking for the contact details of a former senior colleague.

The OCJ stated clearly that this too was a message that did not come from Justice Madlanga.

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These incidents bring the number of times the justice has suffered an impersonation attempt to three, with the first having come on 19 August 2023.

The OCJ confirmed impersonations of other judges had happened several times over the years and have always alerted authorities.  

Justice Maya impersonated

Following a similar pattern, messages were sent to OCJ officials looking for contact details of their colleagues.

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Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya was the target in early March, the government department again having to verify the authenticity.

“The public is warned not to fall prey to this impersonator and to be aware that impersonating a judicial officer is a criminal offence. The matter has already been reported to the South African Police Service,” stated the OCJ.