Western Cape High Court Judge Daniel Thulare has issued a ruling that bars litigant Thabang Motjamela from pursuing his employment matter until he complies with a previously ordered psychiatric evaluation.

The judgment comes after Motjamela failed to adhere to a November court order requiring him to undergo assessment at George Hospital, which the court deemed necessary to determine his capacity to understand legal proceedings.

Judge Thulare, in his latest order, said that in the absence of an enquiry into and a report on the mental state and intellectual capacity of Motjamela, he is unable to express a judgment on whether the applicant’s disregard of the court order was wilful and mala fide.

“The further conduct of the applicant is not helpful. On the 7th of January 2026, while the application for leave to appeal and recusal were pending for the report, the applicant prepared what he termed ‘heads of argument’ for leave to appeal, which he filed at court on 19 January 2026. 

“A reading thereof suggests that the applicant is trying to argue an application which has been suspended pending the report from health professionals. It seems that he failed to appreciate that there is an order whose compliance is a prerequisite for the hearing of the application. This fortifies the view that the applicant may be a person who needs medical help more than judicial intervention,” said Thulare.

Motjamela, by the ruling of the court, has been barred from filing any new application or re-enrolling his application, which also sought Judge Thulare to recuse himself, unless and until such application is accompanied by the report from the Department of Health. 

In its latest judgment, the court stated that without the professional assessment from healthcare experts, it finds itself in an untenable position regarding the adjudication of the matter

Previously, Judge Thulare said it appeared to the court that Motjamela, due to mental illness or intellectual disability, is not capable of understanding the proceedings to make a proper case.

“The position as regards mental illness or intellectual capacity of a person requires training, skill, and experience beyond that of a judicial officer or a person in the position of the applicant or respondent. 

“It requires expert intervention by those who qualify to express an opinion, and who can set out the facts upon which the opinion is based as well as the scientific tools and analysis used, to guide the court in the formulation of its own decision on the matter,” said Thulare.

Motjamela had, since 2018, along with 26 other people, instituted litigation against the George Municipality primarily concerning employment under an Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) contract, having sought that they be employed on an indefinite basis.

The 26 other litigants, after failing in their case at the South African Local Government Bargaining Council, abandoned the referral, and only Motjamela pursued it.

Despite repeatedly losing his cases, he continued to pursue them, arguing that he had been discriminated against. 

Motjamela believed that, as he had been shortlisted for employment in 2018, he should have been shortlisted in 2020. 

chevon.booysen@inl.co.za

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