Staff Reporter
The Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) said on Friday that Acting Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba has lodged a complaint against Gauteng High Court Judge Portia Phahlane with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
The OCJ said the complaint has been sent to the Judicial Conduct Committee, which will consider written submissions from Ledwaba and Phahlane before deciding what happens next.
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It said both parties have until 27 February to make submissions.
“Judge Phahlane will not preside in any part-heard matter until the JSC complaint process has run its course, in line with the bail conditions imposed in the criminal proceedings against Judge Phahlane,” said the OCJ in a statement.
The statement follows weeks of legal wrangling over whether Phahlane could be recalled to finish part-heard matters, including a stalled murder trial, despite facing corruption charges and being on special leave.
She was arrested in November has appeared in the Pretoria Serious Commercial Crimes Court on corruption and money laundering charges over an alleged bribe of more than R2 million for a favourable ruling in a leadership dispute at the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC).
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Phalane was granted R50 000 bail, with conditions including that she could not enter certain court buildings.
After her first court appearance, Chief Justice Mandisa Maya granted Phahlane special leave “with immediate effect pending finalisation of the criminal proceedings against her while the process of her suspension from duty is being considered,” the Office of the Chief Justice said in a separate statement issued at the time.