Court clerk was in tears after alleged insult by Judge Hartle, witness tells tribunal

Résumé détaillé

A second witness has taken the stand at the tribunal where Judge Belinda Hartle faces racism allegations, describing how a tearful court clerk reported being insulted by the…

A second witness has taken the stand at the tribunal where Judge Belinda Hartle faces racism allegations, describing how a tearful court clerk reported being insulted by the judge, but made no mention of the alleged racial slur.

A senior court official has told the Judicial Conduct Tribunal investigating allegations of racism against Eastern Cape High Court Judge Belinda Hartle that a court clerk approached him in tears after allegedly being insulted by the judge.

Denim Kroqwana, the director of court operations in the Eastern Cape Office of the Chief Justice, took the stand on Thursday, 12 November, and testified that Thozamile Semekazi approached him crying on 15 May 2025, shortly after an alleged confrontation with Hartle.

His testimony comes after days of cross-examination in which Hartle’s lawyer, advocate JC Heunis SC, questioned Semekazi’s credibility, including why the alleged racial slur was only mentioned in a police complaint nearly a month after the incident.

Kroqwana, who was among the first officials to whom Semekazi reported the incident, said the clerk told him that Hartle had insulted him when he went to deliver case files to her office.

He said he accompanied Semekazi to Hartle’s office to address the matter, but she had already left.

Evidence leader advocate T Kalakgosi asked Kroqwana why he had accompanied Semekazi and whether this was normal procedure.

Kroqwana replied that it was, “So that we can try and ensure that we restore the working relations between the two of them and that the matter is talked about and resolved.”

Asked whether this was standard practice, he replied, “That’s what I do.”

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