THE WHEELS of justice grind slowly – especially in the case of controversial drink-and-drive high court judge Nkola Motata.
He has been on special leave since 2007, more than nine years after his gold Jaguar ploughed through the wall of a house in Joburg.
The taxpayer is, meanwhile, forking out for his full pay, although he has not served on the bench for a day since his drunken-driving offence.
Lusanda Ntuli, for the office of Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, told The Star’s sister paper, the Pretoria News, that Judge Motata was still receiving his salary. “He is on special leave and, therefore, paid a salary,” she said.
Judge Motata has already cost taxpayers about R16 million.
The annual salaries of judges, as published in the Government Gazette in March, are just over R1.7m.
The money already received by Judge Motata, possibly the only judge in the country with a criminal record, is expected to grow after he filed papers in which he questioned the constitutionality of legislation which could see him impeached.
This is expected to put any inquiry into his alleged misconduct on hold. Judge Motata turned 66 in February, and judges normally retire at 70.
His problems started after the accident, when he allegedly said while drunk: “No Boer is going to undermine me; this used to be the white man’s land but it is not anymore.”
These words could see him impeached if a tribunal set up by the Judicial Service Commission finds him guilty of misconduct. But Judge Motata is set on pulling out all the stops to prevent this.
Following his conviction and subsequent R20 000 fine in 2009, he has been on special leave pending a disciplinary hearing into his conduct.
A complaint was lodged against him by a senior Joburg advocate as well as AfriForum, who claimed that his remarks were racist and constituted gross misconduct.
The disciplinary proceedings were put on hold for three years pending the outcome of a Constitutional Court challenge regarding the constitutionality of section 24 of the Judicial Service Commission Act. The case was initiated by Constitutional Court justices Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta.
They challenged the legality of the tribunal before which they were to testify, after misconduct allegations against Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe. Their application delayed the tribunal hearing against Judge Hlophe for three years, as well as other similar hearings.
The highest court in the country last week turned down the constitutional challenge by the pair, but Judge Motata subsequently filed papers with the high court in Pretoria.
In this latest move, Judge Motata is challenging the constitutionality of the various sections of the act. This latest move by Judge Motata is likely to see all tribunals of this nature further put on hold pending the outcome of his latest challenge, which is expected to also end up in the Constitutional Court.
Judge Motata said in an affidavit that the tribunal set up to investigate the allegations against him was illegal.
According to him, the composition of the tribunal did not adhere to the constitution. One of his grounds was that Parliament had usurped the procedure regarding the handling of complaints against a judge, and whether a judge should be removed from office.
His argument will be that only the commission may determine its own procedure and not Parliament. He stated that Parliament’s interference in the matter was against the separation of powers and infringes on judicial independence.
No date has yet been set.