Africa-Press – South-Africa. Western Cape High Court Judge President John Hlophe was suspended on Wednesday, pending impeachment proceedings against him for gross misconduct.
According to the letter sent to Hlophe by Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola, Deputy Judge President (DJP) Patricia Goliath will act during his suspension.
President Cyril Ramaphosa decided the move, which he announced was effective immediately, on condition that Hlophe completes all part-heard matters and reserved judgments.
The suspension comes on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), whose report Ramaphosa received on 27 July.
“Due to the long history and complexity of the matter, President Ramaphosa took time to carefully consider all the permutations of the JSC recommendations, including obtaining guidance from an independent legal opinion. The president fully appreciated the need to balance Judge President Hlophe’s rights with those of the public and the interest of the judiciary as a whole,” the Presidency said in a statement.
Hlophe was found to have attempted to sway Constitutional Court justices Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta to rule in favour of then-ANC president Jacob Zuma in a challenge to search warrants used to seize 93 000 pages of corruption trial evidence against him.
The complaint was laid 14 years ago by 11 justices.
The Presidency said:
“The JCT established that Judge Hlophe’s behaviour seriously threatened and interfered with the independence, impartiality, dignity and effectiveness of the Constitutional Court and further undermined public confidence in the judicial system.
“The JSC has referred the matter to Parliament for the National Assembly to institute impeachment proceedings against Judge President Hlophe.”
Hlophe currently confronts the prospect of being the first judge in South African history to be impeached.
Goliath, who is now acting in Hlophe’s position, had herself lodged an official complaint with the JSC against Hlophe, accusing him of gross misconduct, which she said was compromising the functioning of the court.
Among Goliath’s claims were an alleged assault on Judge Mushtak Parker, which he himself denied, despite an unsigned affidavit filed with a fellow judge to the contrary; the use of abusive language for allegedly calling her a “rubbish” and “a piece of shit” when he chased her out of his chambers in 2017; and abuse of power in relation to the office of the deputy judge president by appointing a “very junior judge” to act on his behalf, instead of her.
Hlophe lodged a complaint of his own against his deputy, accusing her of racism, the improper disclosure of information of a pending case, and “the propriety of the secret recording made by Goliath DJP of the discussion between her and Hlophe JP at the meeting of 2 October 2019”.
The Judicial Conduct Appeals Committee in September recommended that a tribunal be established to investigate the allegations against both.
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