It has been three months since Gauteng judge Nana Makhubele was found guilty of gross misconduct and the Judicial Service Commission has still not made a decision on what will happen to her next.
The JSC was scheduled to discuss the Makhubele matter on Thursday after she was found guilty of misconduct by the judicial conduct tribunal in January.
The tribunal found Makhubele guilty of grossly negligent conduct and of acting in a manner “prejudicial to the independence, impartiality, dignity, accessibility, efficiency or effectiveness of the courts”.
In 2017 she accepted a job as a Prasa board member after being told she had been recommended as a judge in Gauteng.
JSC spokesperson advocate Sesi Baloyi, briefing the media on Thursday, said the commission’s meeting to discuss the tribunal’s findings against Makhubele was delayed as Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi was not available.
“We will not be dealing with that matter and the reason for that is that the premier of the province who is required to be part of the meeting is unavailable [on Thursday]. That will be dealt with on another day,” Baloyi said.
The judiciary has been criticised for taking years in disciplinary processes for judges. The complaints of misconduct against Makhubele were lodged in January 2019 by civil society organisation Unite Behind.
Baloyi said the postponement in the Makhubele matter was not intentional.
The commission needs to decide whether it accepts or rejects the tribunal’s findings. Should it endorse the findings, Makhubele could face impeachment.
“The [JSC] act prescribes who must be in the meetings of the small JSC when it considers findings or recommendations from the tribunal. There are members of that committee that it cannot sit without. We cannot convene without the premier,” she said.
She said this was the first time Lesufi could not make it to the meeting and did not send someone to attend on his behalf.
“In fairness to the premier of Gauteng, he has previously nominated alternatives [people] when he couldn’t attend the meeting. He has never held us back from meeting.
“We will have to wait for his availability,” she said.
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