By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Suspended Pretoria high court judge Tshifhiwa Maumela appeared before a Judicial Conduct Tribunal in Rosebank, Johannesburg, after being accused of not meeting the benchmark of handing down reserved judgments.
The Tribunal is led by retired Justice of the Constitutional Court, Chris Jafta, who is probing a complaint lodged by Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo against Judge Maumela.
Mlambo laid a complaint against Judge Maumela regarding alleged excessive delays in handing down a significant number of judgments.
Giving evidence at the Judicial Service Commission’s tribunal probing gross misconduct and gross incompetence charges against Maumela for delays in handing down judgments, Mlambo repeatedly stated that he was “embarrassed” that it had happened under his watch.
He said Maumela had “generally” ignored his messages and phone calls and, apart from once claiming that his laptop had “crashed”, had never given any explanation why he did not write judgments timeously.
“I do not want to sit here as a complainant … But it’s my belief that judges must do the work that they took an oath and signed up to do,” he said.
Maumela is accused of not meeting the benchmark of handing down reserved judgments within three to six months (depending on the circumstances) in 52 matters since 2013.
In two cases highlighted during Mlambo’s evidence, judgment took five years. In one of those, the plaintiff in a medical negligence claim died before the ruling was handed down. In the other, which was not complex, Maumela eventually produced a nine-page judgment
Asked by evidence leader Adrian Mopp whether he usually advised litigants to complain to the JSC directly, Mlambo said that was so.
“It was never my intention to be a complainant against a judge. We are colleagues. But lawyers don’t want to complain. They say they are not prepared to do so because they practise in the division and don’t want to be victimised.
“When the (reserved) judgments built up, I decided to be bold and lay the complaint myself.”
Mlambo said Maumela would promise to hand down judgments on certain dates, and then just not do so, even though the litigants had hired counsel to appear on that day.
There were also occasions when he adjourned part-heard criminal matters to recess. The parties would arrive at court – in one instance an advocate had flown up from Cape Town – but Maumela did not show up.
Mlambo said in his opinion, Maumela was guilty of gross incompetence and gross misconduct.
During cross examination, Advocate Ghandi Badela, for Maumela, said his client would say he had not case managed the Senzo Meyiwa trial, the trial had been allocated to him and the parties had arrived at his chambers and said the case was ready to proceed.
Mlambo retorted: “Are you saying I am lying?”
In essence, Badela said Maumela, when he gave evidence, would say that he was overloaded with work, that he had lost files when his computer crashed, that he sometimes had “conflicting court schedules” and that he had suffered a stroke in 2020.
Mlambo said he was not aware of the stroke “because he (Maumela) did not tell me”. He was not even aware that Maulema was off work, if he was.
Maumela if found guilty, potential consequences include impeachment and removal from office.
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