The Judicial Service Commission has recommended that Eastern Cape judge Belinda Hartle be suspended pending the finalisation of a judicial conduct tribunal inquiry into allegations of gross misconduct.
The inquiry arises out of a complaint made by KuGompo City high court employee, Thozamile Semekazi, who alleged Hartle made insulting, derogatory and racist remarks to him when he was delivering case management files to her office.
He alleged she had used the K-word.
Hartle has denied the allegations, particularly with regard to the use of any racial slur.
A Judicial Conduct Committee in December 2025 recommended that the complaint be referred to a tribunal for investigation.
In its ruling, the JCC said that if the complaint was established, it would prima facie indicate gross misconduct which meant Hartle could face impeachment.
While the JCC said it had in no way investigated nor made any findings on the merits, the use of the K-word was a racial slur that was the “most humiliating insult” that could be made to a black person, stripping him of dignity and basic rights.
It said if what was alleged to have happened was established as true, then it was clearly incompatible with holding judicial office.
Semekazi, a registrar clerk, had alleged that he had in mid-May delivered the case management files to Hartle’s chambers at the high court.
He said she had repeatedly sworn and then used the K-word — something Hartle has denied.
The JSC’s secretariat said in a statement on Friday that the small JSC had resolved that it was “desirable that judge Hartle be suspended from office” pending the outcome of the investigation with the condition that she be allowed to finalise part-heard matters and reserved judgments during her suspension.
It had also directed that reasonable measures be taken to minimise contact between Hartle and Semekazi during the period of her suspension.
Daily Dispatch
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