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The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) justice David Unterhalter is defending himself in a review application by a man accusing him of receiving a bribe from litigants, a complaint which the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) found was “baseless”. Eric Achuko has initiated the legal challenge before the high court in Pretoria against the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) seeking to review the judicial conduct committee’s decision that his complaint against Unterhalter was baseless and could not appeal it. Achuko accused Unterhalter of gross misconduct, claiming the judge received a bribe from litigants in a case he lost. Unterhalter in 2019 dismissed Achuko’s case against Absa Bank, First Rand, the Financial Services Board, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, South African Reserve Bank, Banking Association of South Africa, the minister of finance and minister of justice. He alleged the judge received a bribe from Absa based on an email sent to him and several other people when the Unterhalter’s work email was hacked in 2023. The email sent reads: “Dear Achuko .. Please see attached payment advise!” The court papers show that the same email was sent from the justice email to several people, and the SCA IT department confirmed Unterhalter’s email was compromised by hackers. The JCC, chaired by chief justice Mandisa Maya, found the complaint was “seriously harmful both to him [Unterhalter] and the judiciary.” JCC found it was “unacceptable to lay unfounded claims against judges.” Achuko appealed the JCC’s finding but was informed the JSC Act does allow an appeal in his case. He has now lodged an appeal in the high court in Pretoria seeking to review and have the decision he cannot appeal be found to be unconstitutional. He accuses, without proof, the JSC of “covering up” for Unterhalter. Unterhalter, in his court papers, says Achuko was disgruntled after he dismissed his case in 2019. Achuko’s appeals all the way to the Constitutional Court were dismissed. Unterhalter argues the application is bound to fail because Achuko failed to seek permission before instituting the legal challenge. Section 47 of the Superior Courts Act states litigants in civil proceedings need to seek permission from the head of the court before litigation. Unterhalter further argues there is no evidence to substantiate the allegation the “payment” email was proof he was being paid for the 2019 judgment in Achuko’s case against Absa. “The email which Mr Achuko received says nothing about a payment received by me from Absa or any other party. Instead, it is the very opposite of what Mr Achuko alleged in his complaint against me to the JSC. “The emails came from a hacker who compromised my email account. Personnel from the SCA’s IT department confirmed that my email account was hacked.” The case has not yet been heard in court.Business Day
