Gauteng judge to face tribunal

Gauteng Judge Lettie Molopa-Sethosa could face impeachment proceedings. Illustration: Bronwyn Webb

• Judge Lettie Molopa-Sethosa handed down a ruling in August 2023 in favour of two people unlawfully arrested in 2008 but did not provide reasons for three years.
• She has said the matter had “fallen through the cracks”.
• The delay left the litigants unable to proceed to the damages phase of a case that had been in court since 2011. The judge only provided reasons in April 2026, a month after they filed a formal complaint against her.
• Retired Justice Chris Jafta sitting as a judicial conduct committee has recommended she face a full disciplinary tribunal.

The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) has initiated disciplinary proceedings against Gauteng Judge Lettie Molopa-Sethosa, who took more than three years to provide reasons for a ruling she handed down.

The delay denied swift justice for the litigants in an unlawful arrest case.

The complaint against the judge was lodged by Sanet Bruton. She and her father were unlawfully arrested and detained by the police in 2008.

In 2011, they instituted a civil action against the Minister of Police. The matter went to trial in October 2013 and the merits were heard by Judge Molopa-Sethosa, with the issue of damages to be determined later.

The trial continued until October 2022, and judgment was reserved.

In August 2023, Judge Molopa-Sethosa ruled in favour of Bruton and her father, but did not give reasons, which were required for the minister’s legal team to make a decision on whether or not to appeal.

This left the matter “in limbo”.

Bruton and her father could not proceed to the next legal phase to determine the damages to be awarded.

The judge only provided the reasons in April 2026, a month after Bruton filed a complaint with the JSC. Molopa-Sethosa apologised and said the matter had “fallen through the cracks”.

In her written response to the complaint, she said with the workload at the Pretoria court “I honestly forgot about it”.

Retired Justice Chris Jafta sitting as a section 17 Judicial Conduct Committee has recommended that she face a tribunal.

He said Molopa-Sethosa could be guilty of “more serious misconduct” which may constitute gross misconduct (a finding which could result in her impeachment).

The consequence of her conduct was that litigation that commenced in 2011 was still far from finality, he said.

“The long delay involved in this matter has the potential to erode public confidence in the judiciary,” he said.

While Molopa-Sethosa was not to blame for the delay in setting it down for trial, she was in charge of the trial from October 2013.

“For unexplained reasons, it took nine years to conclude. And from October 2022 to April 2026, she alone was responsible for the delay,” Jafta said.

He said while initially the matter may have “slipped through the cracks”, it was difficult to appreciate how that continued after the judge had received several emails from the litigants, urgently asking for the reasons.

“It is in this context that it is difficult to understand how the matter could have once more ‘slipped through the cracks’ until she received a copy of Bruton’s complaint in March 2026. It is this lack of action which is most concerning.”

Jafta said Molopa-Sethosa had not advanced satisfactory mitigating circumstances. In their absence, a tribunal might find that the delay constituted gross incompetence or gross misconduct in which event the JSC may conclude that she should be removed from office.

He said after the delivery of the reasons, Bruton’s attorneys had “purported to withdraw the complaint”. But this is not permissible and has no legal effect.

“While the delivery of the judgment [reasons] may remedy the harm to litigants, it does not erase the harm caused to the judiciary,” Jafta said.

He referred the complaint to a full five-member Judicial Conduct Committee, which will then make recommendations to the JSC, which may then convene a tribunal.

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