A torrid week for the judiciary

It has been a torrid week for the judiciary, with allegations of impeachable and prisonable wrongdoing against judges falling under the spotlight.

The judge president of the Eastern Cape is being investigated by the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) for allegedly sexually harassing a law clerk. A Free State high court has been warned to appear in court on fraud charges involving more than R2 million in March.

And since Tuesday, Gauteng high court judge Nana Makhubele has been appearing before the Judicial Conduct Tribunal as it holds public hearings into a complaint that she violated the Judicial Code of Conduct and the principle of separation of powers by serving both on the bench and the interim board of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), and breached the law by furthering corruption.

Makhubele denies the charge of gross misconduct and has testified that she was not sworn as a judge while chairing the board between 19 October 2017 and 16 March 2018. 

She also denies that she sought to advance the interests of Siyaya, which secured contracts worth more than R2 billion to install security at stations. These were awarded on Lucky Montana’s watch as CEO and later set aside on suspicion that they were linked to state capture.