DISCIPLINARY proceedings against North Gauteng High Court Judge Nkola Motata were put on hold on Saturday until a court case by Constitutional Court justices Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta has been decided.
The Judicial Conduct Tribunal set up last year to investigate two complaints against Judge Motata had little choice but to put itself on hold — because if justices Nkabinde and Jafta succeed in their case it would invalidate everything done by the tribunal.
But it means the complaints against Judge Motata — one made in 2008, the other in 2011, and both rooted into Judge Motata’s drunken car crash into the wall of a Hurlingham home in 2007 — will remain unresolved for the forseeable future.
So far, three separate judicial conduct tribunals established to look into potentially impeachable conduct by judges have been frustrated and delayed by intervening litigation — raising questions about whether judges can really be held to account when there are allegations of wrongdoing.
The case brought by justices Nkabinde and Jafta arose out of a separate tribunal set up to investigate gross misconduct allegations against Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe and in which they were to be the main witnesses.
The two justices took the tribunal to court on a number of grounds — including that section 24 of the JSC Act was unconstitutional. Section 24 provides that the president of a judicial conduct tribunal may appoint a member of the National Prosecuting Authority to collect evidence on behalf of the tribunal. Justices Jafta and Nkabinde said the section offended against the separation of powers and judicial independence. As a result, the tribunal into Judge Hlophe’s conduct was put on ice.
Similarly North Gauteng High Court Judge Ntsikelelo Poswa has challenged a tribunal established to look into him and three of his colleagues — judges Ferdi Preller, Moses Mavundla and George Webster — for failing to deliver judgments for inordinately long periods. Judge Motata also went to the high court to stop the JSC’s disciplinary procedures, back in 2011, but failed.
But now, once again, resolution of the allegations against Judge Motata have been delayed and it is unclear for how long. Justices Nkabinde and Jafta’s case is still in its early stages; it is yet to be heard, not to mention all the appeal options.
President of the Motata tribunal, KwaZulu-Natal Deputy Judge President Achmat Jappie said if justices Jafta and Nkabinde succeeded in their challenge, "the work of the tribunal would be undone". Prudence therefore demanded that Judge Motata’s tribunal also be put on hold, he said.
But he said the tribunal was mindful of the concerns raised as to how long the process was taking. "It is certainly in the public interest that the matter be resolved as expeditiously as possible," he said.
One of the complaints against Judge Motata was made by right-wing civil rights organisation AfriForum for allegedly "racist" remarks at the scene of his drunken car accident. AfriForum alleged Judge Motata had said "No boer is going to undermine me. This used to be the white man’s land, South Africa is ours", and that this was racist. Judge Motata has consistently denied the racism charge.
The other complaint was made by senior counsel at the Johannesburg Bar Gerrit Pretorius, who said the way Judge Motata had conducted his defence to charges of drunken driving — deliberately putting forward a defence that he knew was untrue — was inconsistent with judicial ethics.
Judge Nkola Motata. PICTURE: SOWETAN
DISCIPLINARY proceedings against North Gauteng High Court Judge Nkola Motata were put on hold on Saturday until a court case by Constitutional Court justices Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta has been decided.
The Judicial Conduct Tribunal set up last year to investigate two complaints against Judge Motata had little choice but to put itself on hold — because if justices Nkabinde and Jafta succeed in their case it would invalidate everything done by the tribunal.
But it means the complaints against Judge Motata — one made in 2008, the other in 2011, and both rooted into Judge Motata’s drunken car crash into the wall of a Hurlingham home in 2007 — will remain unresolved for the forseeable future.
So far, three separate judicial conduct tribunals established to look into potentially impeachable conduct by judges have been frustrated and delayed by intervening litigation — raising questions about whether judges can really be held to account when there are allegations of wrongdoing.
The case brought by justices Nkabinde and Jafta arose out of a separate tribunal set up to investigate gross misconduct allegations against Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe and in which they were to be the main witnesses.
The two justices took the tribunal to court on a number of grounds — including that section 24 of the JSC Act was unconstitutional. Section 24 provides that the president of a judicial conduct tribunal may appoint a member of the National Prosecuting Authority to collect evidence on behalf of the tribunal. Justices Jafta and Nkabinde said the section offended against the separation of powers and judicial independence. As a result, the tribunal into Judge Hlophe’s conduct was put on ice.
Similarly North Gauteng High Court Judge Ntsikelelo Poswa has challenged a tribunal established to look into him and three of his colleagues — judges Ferdi Preller, Moses Mavundla and George Webster — for failing to deliver judgments for inordinately long periods. Judge Motata also went to the high court to stop the JSC’s disciplinary procedures, back in 2011, but failed.
But now, once again, resolution of the allegations against Judge Motata have been delayed and it is unclear for how long. Justices Nkabinde and Jafta’s case is still in its early stages; it is yet to be heard, not to mention all the appeal options.
President of the Motata tribunal, KwaZulu-Natal Deputy Judge President Achmat Jappie said if justices Jafta and Nkabinde succeeded in their challenge, "the work of the tribunal would be undone". Prudence therefore demanded that Judge Motata’s tribunal also be put on hold, he said.
But he said the tribunal was mindful of the concerns raised as to how long the process was taking. "It is certainly in the public interest that the matter be resolved as expeditiously as possible," he said.
One of the complaints against Judge Motata was made by right-wing civil rights organisation AfriForum for allegedly "racist" remarks at the scene of his drunken car accident. AfriForum alleged Judge Motata had said "No boer is going to undermine me. This used to be the white man’s land, South Africa is ours", and that this was racist. Judge Motata has consistently denied the racism charge.
The other complaint was made by senior counsel at the Johannesburg Bar Gerrit Pretorius, who said the way Judge Motata had conducted his defence to charges of drunken driving — deliberately putting forward a defence that he knew was untrue — was inconsistent with judicial ethics.
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