Judge Maumela didn’t carry heavy workload, says Judge President

Judge President Dunstan Mlambo has insisted that between 2012 and 2021, Judge
Tshifhiwa Maumela had a history of outstanding judgments despite not handling a heavy
caseload compared to other judges. Judge Mlambo testified during the first sitting of the
Judicial Conduct Tribunal Hearing for Judge Maumela held in Rosebank, Johannesburg, on
Monday.

In June 2023, Judge Maumela and Judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi were suspended by
President Cyril Ramaphosa for failing to deliver numerous reserved judgments within a
reasonable time frame. The Judicial Service Commission had recommended their
suspension and the establishment of a tribunal to consider complaints about their delayed
judgments.
Taking the stand, Judge Mlambo told the hearing that during the period in question, Judge
Maumela was predominantly allocated criminal trials but rarely assigned special motions,
which he described as “the heaviest to deal with.” At best, Judge Maumela received only two
opposed motions per year, unlike other judges who handled two per term.
“My view sitting here is that he actually had a very accommodative allocation of cases. I can
find no justifiable reason why some of those judgments would have been referred to, some
even up to four years or so. Especially when you factor in that we have recess periods,
which are meant for judges to catch up on outstanding work,” Judge Mlambo stated.

He insisted that Judge Maumela never alerted him to any problems or sought an extension
for delivering judgments. Judge Mlambo recalled an instance when Judge Maumela was
stationed at the Thohoyandou High Court and still struggled with timely judgment
submissions.

“I was shocked when I woke up one day and received a number of complaints from parties
demanding judgments, and he was doing duty in the Thohoyandou High Court. I tried getting
a hold of him and would send emails or try to call him, but he would not come back to me.”

Eventually, Judge Mlambo met with Judge Maumela, who claimed his laptop had crashed,
leaving 28 judgments outstanding. “I was surprised to say, but if your laptop crashes, that
does not mean you can sit back and do nothing,” Judge Mlambo remarked.

Unable to resolve the issue, Judge Mlambo advised litigants to file complaints with the
Judicial Services Commission, though many feared victimization. Consequently, he took the
“bold” decision to lay the complaints himself, consulting with the two Deputy Judge
Presidents.

The tribunal will continue until March 20.