Johannesburg - The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) has requested that President Cyril Ramaphosa take action against suspended judges Tshifhiwa Maumela and Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi.
Maumela, who is the Gauteng High Court Judge, is facing potential impeachment over his allegedly tardy judgements, while Mngqibisa-Thusi’s possible impeachment is due to having failed to deliver a judgment she reserved in February 2021, among others.
According to the JSC, the two judges will be allowed to finalise all matters presently before them. The JSC has also recommended that a Judicial Conduct Tribunal be established to consider complaints that the judges failed to deliver numerous reserved judgments in the stipulated time frames. Their failure to deliver judgements on time is said to have prompted the JSC to recommend this decision to the president.
Speaking to SABC News, legal analyst Mpumelelo Zikalala said this could delay some of the cases these two judges were currently handling. He said that in the best interests of the legal matters before him, Maumela would better serve the interests of justice by recusing himself early on in the Senzo Meyiwa matter, which was still in the early stages of the trial.
"Let us also remember that this matter (Senzo Meyiwa) has been running for 10 years before the first witness stepped into the witness box. So, to prevent those endless delays, he should say, let's get a new judge who is going to come in and proceed with this matter," Zikalala said.
According to JSC spokesperson Advocate Sesi Baloyi, the complaints against the two judges were lodged by Judge President Dunstan Mlambo in 2020 after reports indicated that the judges had presided over matters that were reserved for between six and 26 months.
This is in spite of the norms and standards of judicial officers having a cap of three months on reserved judgments.
"The JSC is in the process of appointing a tribunal for each one of the judges. As of today, June 28, the president has issued letters of suspension to the judges," Baloyi said.
The Star