The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has decided that judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi be directed to write a letter of apology to Gauteng judge president Dunstan Mlambo for her failure to deliver judgments timeously.
The JSC, excluding the members designated by the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, made its sanction known on Tuesday after considering a report by a judicial conduct tribunal which had investigated a complaint by Mlambo.
Mngqibisa-Thusi was suspended in June 2023 after it was decided she should face a tribunal for 27 long-outstanding judgments, reserved over the period of 2017-2020. The periods they were outstanding “ranged between seven and 27 months”, said the tribunal.
In June, the tribunal found that that the conduct of Mngqibisa-Thusi did not amount to gross misconduct. This was because she had spiritual challenges, she delivered a substantial number of judgments when she recovered from her illness and she did not suffer from incapacity.
After considering the report of the tribunal, the JSC — without parliamentary representatives — announced on Tuesday it had found Mngqibisa-Thusi had committed misconduct in the circumstances outlined in the tribunal’s report, more specifically her failure to report to Mlambo that she was unable to produce the judgments timeously.
“The commission notes the submission of judge Mngqibisa-Thusi that she had reported to an acting deputy judge president about her failure to deliver judgments on time. The commission does not consider this as sufficient, and it notes that the judge president should have been informed,” the commission said in its report.
The commission found there were strong mitigating factors; that Mngqibisa-Thusi suffered from her spiritual illness, that the illness was temporary and that when she recovered from her illness, she was able to complete the judgments.
“Fourthly, in 2023 there were no complaints about outstanding judgments.”
The commission said it considered whether the sanction imposed on Mngqibisa-Thusi should entail an immediate financial loss.
“It was decided that such sanction would not be appropriate in the current circumstances, especially where the judge concerned has begun a process to redress her past misconduct.”
The commission said in addition to a letter of apology to Mlambo, she should write to the attorneys of all affected parties within 14 days of the decision.
The commission said Mlambo should formally reprimand Mngqibisa-Thusi and issue a written warning to her.
TimesLIVE