Judge’s ‘African spirituality’ unpacked at tribunal

The ‘question of African spirituality must be put on the judicial agenda’, traditional healer and spiritual leader Gogo Aubrey Matshiqi told a judicial conduct tribunal investigating the possible impeachment of Gauteng Judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi. Her evidence was summarised in written submissions to the tribunal’s panel. The oral hearing, in which Matshiqi testified, was held partially behind closed doors to protect her privacy. However, the written submissions have been released to the Sunday Times with the permission of the tribunal chair, retired Constitutional Court Justice Chris Jafta. Mngqibisa-Thusi faces possible impeachment for 27 long-delayed judgments – some outstanding for more than a year – over about two-and-a-half years. It is the first judicial conduct tribunal dealing with long-delayed judgments as a possible basis for impeachment. In written submissions, Mngqibisa-Thusi’s legal representative, Gauteng Judge Gcina Malindi, referred to a global survey that explored the links between the wellbeing of judges and judicial integrity. Malindi said the survey found that 92% of judges are ‘subjected to stress occasioned by excessive workloads’ and 68% of them feel that talking about it is ‘taboo’.

On top of these, the summary of the evidence in the written submissions reveals that during the relevant period, a wide range of personal circumstances proved challenging for Mngqibisa-Thusi. Her husband was infected by Covid-19, her mother died, her son struggled with addiction and she broke her elbow and wrist. The Sunday Times reports that Malindi quoted from another article in a journal that said women judges were ‘particularly prone to stress ... exacerbated by, inter alia, personal factors, but primarily family responsibility which must be balanced with their responsibilities and duties as a judge, which many male judges never experience, this amounting to a level of corollary gender bias’. In the evidence summarised in the written submissions, Mngqibisa-Thusi and Matshiqi revealed that she had been struggling with a spiritual calling since the age of nine but had resisted it because of her strong Christian beliefs. As a result, she had periods in which she suffered from ‘migraines, visions, nightmares, disorientation and mindlessness’, which had affected her work. But she had now ‘fully recovered from the debilitating challenges that prevented her from fulfilling her responsibilities’, said Malindi, and would be able to cope in future. A similar prognosis was reached in a report by a clinical psychologist in relation to her diagnosis and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Malindi’s submissions.

However, the Sunday Times notes that Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo said she had never said anything to him about this and ‘he grew up in an African society and members of his family had gone through (similar) issues ... ‘He feels bad that Mngqibisa-Thusi was of the view that he would stigmatise her and break her confidentiality.’ But Mlambo also said she ‘had a responsibility to seek assistance’. ‘A judge’s fear of embarrassment or shame was (not) sufficient reason not to disclose his or her challenges,’ said the evidence leader in summarising Mlambo’s evidence.

Full Sunday Times report