Basil is no ordinary King
The law expert is a talented pool and snooker player.
WITH 42 years of experience in the justice department under his belt, Senior Magistrate Basil King, will now manage the South Coast’s courts. Mr King (59) began his new post as head of the sub-regional cluster last month. “I suppose in my lifetime, it’s a little late to get the chief of justice position,” chuckled Mr King when speaking about the new post.
Ironically, Mr King worked as a clerk in the Port Shepstone court in 1974. He was persuaded to study law by a magistrate and the rest is history. And now 39 years later, Mr King is back working at Port Shepstone court. He will oversee the courts in Ramsgate, Port Shepstone, Ixopo, Harding, Ezingolweni, Matatiele and Kokstad which fall under the Durban’s sub-regional cluster.
Mr King started his career as a prosecutor in Stanger and then Howick . He worked as relief staff, filling in for magistrates and prosecutors around the country. In 1990, he was approached to teach at the justice department’s college training institution in Pretoria. It was there that he spent 23 years teaching the judiciary system to magistrates and prosecutors. “It was rewarding to train people and see them progress to become prosecutors, regional magistrates and then judges. To watch them climb the ladder and get to those top positions was rewarding. It felt like something had been achieved,” he said.
He describes himself as being a highly driven person and something of a perfectionist. “As I’ve worked in the system for so long, I expect the best from the staff,” he said. Mr King married Moira in 1981, and they have two sons. The couple is planning to settle in Umtentweni.
Outside the courtroom, Mr King has an impressive list of hobbies. In his spare time, he enjoys playing pool and snooker, so much so that he managed the provincial pool and snooker teams, and travelled to Blackpool in 2007, as a manager for the national side. He is only 30 short of playing every 18-hole golf course in South Africa, while his speed-walking wife, Moira, has done every long distance race in the country, except the Comrades Marathon. Lastly, Mr King admits that he really chose to live on the coast, so he can fish. “I’m going to try to juggle them all,” he laughed.
