Pretoria High Court Judge, Nkola Motata, is arrested

Date: 5 Jan 2007
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Pretoria High Court Judge, Nkola Motata, is arrested

In 2007, Pretoria High Court Judge Nkola Motata drove through garden wall of a house north of Johannesburg. He was found to be drunk by police and is said to have resisted arrest. The owner of the property that Motata drove into took pictures of the visibly drunken judge and recorded him making racial slurs agaisnt him. He was arrested and charged with drunk driving. Motata was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison or a R20 000 fine. He unsuccessfully appealed the sentence several times. Afriforum, an Afrikaner pressure group also laid a charge of misconduct against the judge and the Judicial Service Commission has placed him on leave pending a judicial tribunal against him.

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How we know this

01K. Maughan and G. Gifford (2009) ‘Video: The evidence that sunk Motata’ from iol news (September 3 2009) [online] Available at: www.iol.co.za [accessed on 6 December 2011]
02News 24(2007) ‘Judge in drunk driving crash’ from news 24(1 January 2007) [online] Available at: www.news24.com [Accessed on 6 December 2011]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, December 22). Pretoria High Court Judge, Nkola Motata, is arrested. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071701

South African History Online (2011) 'Pretoria High Court Judge, Nkola Motata, is arrested', South African History Online, 22 December. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071701 (Accessed: 16 August 2026).

South African History Online, Pretoria High Court Judge, Nkola Motata, is arrested [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071701, (accessed 16 August 2026).

"Pretoria High Court Judge, Nkola Motata, is arrested." South African History Online, 22 Dec. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071701. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Pretoria High Court Judge, Nkola Motata, is arrested." South African History Online. December 22, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071701.