Pretoria High Court judge Nkola Motata's application for leave to appeal a drunk driving sentence and conviction was dismissed by the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Thursday, prosecutor Zaais van Zyl said.

"He has until 31 October to pay the first of two instalments of R10 000 each, or go to jail," said Van Zyl SC.

Motata was sentenced in September after crashing into a wall in Hurlingham, Johannesburg and launched an application for leave to appeal.

Van Zyl said Motata could petition the judge president of the high court, but his lawyers said they did not yet know how they would proceed on his behalf.

Judicial Service Commission spokesperson Marumo Moerane said Motata would not return to work until the criminal process had been exhausted.

"We don't know whether today's decision means the process is finished, or whether he is going to apply for leave to appeal to the high court," Moerane told Sapa.