Judge snubs JSC over late judgments

Gauteng High Court Judge Mncedisi Kumalo has failed to respond to complaints about his late judgments. Illustration: Bronwyn Webb.

• Two judicial conduct inquiries have found that Gauteng High Court Judge Mncedisi Kumalo has repeatedly delivered judgments more than a year late.
• Kumalo has also apparently ignored repeated requests from the JSC to explain the delays.
• A tribunal will determine whether he remains fit to hold judicial office.

Two judicial conduct inquiries have recommended that Gauteng High Court Judge Mncedisi Kumalo, who faces multiple complaints for handing down late judgments, appear before a tribunal to determine his fitness to hold office.

He was first appointed permanently to the bench in 2021.

In a ruling handed down in May, Deputy Chief Justice Dunstan Mlambo dealt with a complaint from a party in a labour court matter involving the dismissal of 286 employees from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. The workers had been reinstated by the bargaining council and the municipality wished to review that decision. The matter came before Kumalo in June 2024, when he advised that he would decide it on the papers and judgment would follow.

In August 2025, when judgment had still not been delivered, a complaint was lodged. He handed down judgment only in November 2025.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) secretariat wrote twice to Kumalo, advising him of the complaint but received no response.

Mlambo said the eventual delivery of the judgment “does not cure the issue”.

“It may reduce immediate practical prejudice caused by non-delivery, but it does not explain why the judgment took about 17 months to deliver.”

Kumalo had been given an opportunity to explain “any factual misunderstanding” but had not provided any.

“His silence is not a neutral feature of the matter. In the absence of an explanation, I am unable to treat the matter as an ordinary delay capable of being adequately addressed by a warning, reprimand or counselling.”

Mlambo said three other similar complaints had also been lodged against Kumalo.

More complaints

These were dealt with in a ruling handed down in July by a Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) comprising Justices Chris Jafta, Halima Saldulka and Steven Majiedt.

In their report, they noted that the complaints were lodged in April and August 2025.

In a matter Kumalo heard in March 2024, judgment remained outstanding for more than 19 months. It was finally delivered in September 2025, after one of the parties, Thomas Nkosi, complained to the Deputy Judge President of the division.

In October, Nkosi filed an application for leave to appeal. By February 2026, Kumalo had still not given his decision.

Attorney Clifford Levin complained that he had brought an urgent application in September 2024 in the labour court relating to a restraint of trade. Judgment was only delivered in May 2025.

A third complaint was lodged by Kenneth Skhosana who said his matter had been heard in July 2024. At the time of lodging his complaint, the judgment had been outstanding for more than a year.

The JCC report noted that Kumalo had not responded to the complaints against him, in spite of numerous requests.

“Although when looked at individually, these complaints do not rise to the level of impeachable ones, collectively considered they exhibit a pattern of failures to deliver judgments within the prescribed time.

“Such a pattern may indicate either that the affected judge is grossly incompetent or is guilty of gross misconduct. Of importance, is the fact that there is no excuse or explanation furnished for these delays.”

In recommending the establishment of a tribunal, the committee said it would investigate and determine the complaints, and Kumalo would be given an opportunity to advance whatever defence he may have.

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