MK Party calls for Judge Makamu to step aside amid Tribunal referral - IOL

MKP) has called on Gauteng High Court Judge Mudunwazi Samuel Makamu to voluntarily step aside from the bench pending a Judicial Conduct Tribunal investigation into allegations that he solicited a R5 000 payment from a litigant and sought to influence an appeal arising from his own judgment.

THE uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) has called on Gauteng High Court Judge Mudunwazi Samuel Makamu to voluntarily step aside from the bench pending a Judicial Conduct Tribunal investigation into allegations that he solicited a R5 000 payment from a litigant and sought to influence an appeal arising from his own judgment.

The call follows the referral of a judicial-conduct complaint against Makamu for a formal Tribunal investigation after the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) found that, if established, the allegations could amount to gross misconduct.

The complaint was lodged by businessman and attorney Bouwe Wiersma with the JCC.

Wiersma alleges that shortly after Makamu granted an eviction order against him in July 2025, he received a telephone call from a person identifying himself as the judge.

According to the complaint, the caller described the judgment as an injustice, encouraged Wiersma to appeal and offered assistance in securing a favourable outcome.

Wiersma further alleges that the judge recommended legal representatives to assist with the appeal and that subsequent communications took place concerning the matter.

The complaint also contains an allegation concerning a payment.

Wiersma alleges that Makamu initially requested R7 000, which was later reduced to R5 000. He claims he subsequently transferred the R5 000 into a Capitec account in the name of G Makamu, which he believed was connected to the judge or his family.

The payment allegedly carried the references “SAVINGS/COUSIN/RHODE” and “adv/APPEAL/hdbmuseum”.

Wiersma alleges that after the payment, Makamu confirmed that the application for leave to appeal had been set down. The application was ultimately dismissed.

According to the judicial-conduct record, he denied communicating with Wiersma before or after the judgment and denied soliciting R5 000 or any other payment.

He also denied that the bank account into which the money was allegedly paid belonged to him. His response stated that the account belonged to a person identified as “Mr Makua”. Wiersma disputed this and alleged that his own inquiries linked the account to “Mr G Makuwa”.

The JCC noted inconsistencies and unconfirmed aspects of Wiersma’s complaint. It nevertheless concluded that the allegations were sufficiently serious that they could not be treated as a trivial or informal complaint.

The subsequent inquiry considered whether the allegations, if proven, could constitute gross misconduct. Among the allegations considered was that a judge had solicited and received a payment from a litigant whose case he had decided, and that the payment was allegedly connected to an attempt to influence an appeal arising from that decision.

The matter was consequently referred for investigation by a Judicial Conduct Tribunal.

The referral is not a finding that Makamu committed misconduct, nor does it establish that the alleged payment was a bribe or that the judge attempted to influence the appeal.

MKP said the referral nevertheless required Makamu to step aside while the investigation was under way.

“Judge Makamu must step aside, face the Tribunal and clear his name,” the party said.

MKP stressed that the Tribunal referral was not a finding of guilt and that Makamu was entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence.

However, the party argued that allegations of this nature strike at the integrity of the judiciary and that a judge should not continue exercising judicial authority while facing a formal investigation into alleged bribery and interference with an appeal.

MKP called for the Tribunal process to be conducted independently, transparently and without fear or favour.

The party said the investigation would give Makamu an opportunity to clear his name, while any misconduct established through the process should attract the appropriate consequences.