Judge cleared of bias claims but asked to apologise for delay
In a decision handed down on Tuesday, the committee dismissed most of the allegations, finding no evidence to support claims.
A Pietermaritzburg High Court judge has been cleared of allegations of bias, irregular conduct and unfair treatment in a complaint brought before the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) over a contentious Umvoti Municipality dispute.
The complaints were brought by ABC president and former Umvoti mayor Philani Godfrey Mavundla and ABC secretary-general and former Umvoti speaker Mfundo Masondo, who accused the judge of misconduct during urgent reconsideration proceedings linked to the municipality’s leadership dispute.
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In a decision handed down on Tuesday, the committee dismissed most of the allegations, finding no evidence to support claims that Bezuidenhout had shown bias, acted irregularly or treated Mavundla and Masondo’s legal representatives unfairly.
Bezuidenhout had denied misconduct, saying the proceedings formed part of a series of urgent applications arising from the same municipal leadership dispute.
She also denied that she treated Mavundla and Masondo’s legal representatives improperly.
The JCC found that the only complaint with merit related to the delay in furnishing reasons in the case.
The committee said the delay breached provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which require judges to perform their duties efficiently and without undue delay and ordered Bezuidenhout to issue a written apology to both complainants within 30 days of the ruling.
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Masondo welcomed the ruling.
We couldn’t do an appeal in the specified time frame because the reasons came back a year later …We will be seeking legal advice on the best way to attend to this.
“I feel vindicated but with the losses one has suffered, something’s got to give,” Masondo said.
