PSYCHOLOGIST MUST FACE MUSIC
Judge Patrick Gamble in George describes Christina Els’s conduct as ‘vexatious’ before dismissing her bid with costs
GEORGE psychologist Christina Els has failed in yet another attempt to stop the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) from instituting disciplinary action against her.
In the latest court bid, sitting at the Eastern Circuit Local Division, Thembalethu, in George, Judge Patrick Gamble described Els’s conduct as “vexatious” before dismissing her bid with costs.
Els faces an internal disciplinary process at the conduct committee for the Professional Board for Psychology through the HPCSA.
Els was accused of operating outside her mandate as a court-appointed facilitator by personally investigating and coming to a finding of trauma related to severe parental alienation which allegedly impeded her neutrality, objectivity and effectiveness in making decisions in the best interest of a child.
The 7-year-old boy had undergone a reunification process and it is alleged that instead of appointing an independent psychologist to conduct a complete psychological evaluation, Els assumed a psychologist/client relationship with the paternal family simultaneously in her role.
According to Judge Gamble: “It is alleged that Els engaged in what is termed, in the language of the profession of psychologists, ‘multiple relationships’.
“The substance of the complaint is that while Els was acting as a court-appointed facilitator in a Children’s Court enquiry in Cape Town, she offered professional therapeutic services to certain of the parties involved in that matter. Such conduct is regarded by the HPCSA as unprofessional in that it is alleged to be a breach of the so-called Professional Board for Psychology Rules of Conduct Pertaining to the Profession of Psychology (the Psychology Rules).”
Dismissing Els’s appeal – she wanted a permanent stay of the inquiry against her – Judge Gamble held that her applications to the high court were Stalingrad litigation.
He said Els had already demonstrated unequivocally in the litigation before Judge Binns-Ward that she harboured a firm belief that the disciplinary proceedings against her should be brought to an immediate halt, and permanently so.
“Having failed to stop the inquiry before (Judge Ashley) Binns-Ward, (Els) has now seized upon a further alleged procedural misstep to stall the disciplinary proceedings. In my view, the procedure adopted by the applicant is yet another page in what has become known as ‘The Stalingrad Playbook’, where litigants in criminal matters, all the while proclaiming their earnest wish to bring the matter to a speedy conclusion so as to procure their acquittal, put up one procedural hurdle after another to kibosh that very intention,” said Judge Gamble.
With regards to costs, the judge said: “The respondents (HPCSA) asked that costs follow the result and that if the application was unsuccessful, the applicant should be ordered to pay punitive costs. Counsel for the applicant accepted that costs should follow the result. I have expressed my concerns about the applicant’s bona fides in pursuing this application. However, while that may afford a basis for a punitive costs order, in my view, the applicant’s conduct in this matter can be described as vexatious.” A preliminary investigation had found Els guilty of misconduct and liable to pay a R50 000 admission of guilt fine. When she opted not to pay the fine, the HPCSA formally charged her with unprofessional conduct.
In previous litigation proceedings, the HPCSA submitted that Els’s relief sought from the courts was “another attempt to delay and derail an internal disciplinary process”.
Attempts to get comment from Els and her legal team were unsuccessful by deadline.