Allegations that a senior Eastern Cape judge used insulting and racist language towards a high court employee have been referred to the Judicial Conduct Tribunal for investigation. The Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) judicial conduct committee recommended this week that high court judge Belinda Hartle’s alleged conduct be referred to the tribunal. In its formal Section 16 ruling, the committee, consisting of deputy chief justice Dunstan Mlambo, retired judge Chris Jafta and Supreme Court of Appeal judge Halima Saldulker, said if the complaint was established it would prima facie show that Hartle was guilty of gross misconduct.
The committee said the complainant, Thozamile Semekazi, a registry clerk at the high court sitting in Vincent, East London, said that in mid-May 2025 he had delivered case files to Hartle’s office. He alleged that Hartle, apparently irritated by the delay in the delivery, had sworn repeatedly and also used the K-word. He also reported a criminal complaint of crimen injuria against Hartle but the National Prosecuting Authority declined to prosecute.
He declined to comment further, referring the Dispatch to the JSC and his attorney, Ntsikane Mtshabe, who could not be reached for comment. Hartle has emphatically denied using the K-word in her interaction with Semekazi. In his submission to the judicial conduct committee, Semekazi said the alleged conduct was belittling, humiliating and discriminatory and had made him feel “inadequate and foolish”. He said any person using the K-word “is not fit to be part of the current South Africa, unless and until that person undergoes extensive rehabilitation”.
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