Cape Town - The Judicial Conduct Tribunal of High Court Judge Tintswalo Annah Nana Makhubele has been adjourned until November 13 after her lawyers negotiated a postponement because the Office of the State Attorney had not paid her legal team.
The tribunal, chaired by retired judge president Achmat Jappie, is investigating allegations of misconduct in relation to Judge Makhubele’s time as chairperson of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) board.
The matter could lead to her impeachment.
The investigation arises from a complaint filed with the Judicial Services Commission by civil society organisation #UniteBehind.
It complained that Judge Makhubele’s position as both the chairperson of Prasa as well as a judge was in breach of the separation of powers.
Judge Makhubele had denied wrongdoing and said she had already resigned as Prasa chairperson when she was sworn in as a judge.
Requesting the adjournment after almost three hours of talks with the evidence leaders in the matter, Makhubele’s attorney, Eric Mabuza, referred to a letter his firm sent to the tribunal late in July.
In the letter, Mabuza asked the tribunal to grant a postponement so that his client could resolve matters with the state attorney regarding the funding of her defence team.
Yesterday, Mabuza said: “For quite some time, we’ve had discussions with the state attorney and we’ve now escalated the matter to the solicitor-general to find a resolution.
“It isn’t as if there’s a dispute between the parties, we’ve just not had any communication from the state attorney.”
Mabuza told the tribunal that as a result of the payment challenges, his firm had been unable to secure an advocate to proceed with the matter.
“We’ve tried everything in our power to try to find a solution, but sadly this situation has become intolerable for counsel to continue under the circumstances.”
He said he had only appeared at the tribunal to explain the situation out of respect and for the sake of Judge Makhubele’s dignity, as it would be wrong for her to be left without representation.
Mabuza said they would let the tribunal know how things stood on the payment issue by September 29.
Judge Jappie agreed to the adjournment but said that regardless of the situation on November 13 the tribunal would have to get on with its work as the matter had now been outstanding for more than three years.
“What I want to impress upon you is this: we can understand the difficulty that Judge Makhubele finds herself in today, but come November 13, the tribunal will sit.
“The adjournment is simply to allow Judge Makhubele to sort out whatever she needs to sort out with you or counsel,” Jappie said.
Judge Makhubele said she had been in touch with the solicitor-general on the matter and would follow up on it.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za