Africa-Press – South-Africa. Is Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe packing up his office, or have his infamous hunting trophies been removed for routine house cleaning? Speculation about the reasons is rife in the corridors of the Western Cape High Court.
Hlophe and his staff removed items, including stuffed animal heads, from his office after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) recommended to President Cyril Ramaphosa that he should be suspended.
Warning of untold damage: Former ConCourt justices adamant Hlophe must be sent packing
The JSC announced on Monday that it had resolved to recommend Hlophe’s suspension for approaching two Constitutional Court justices in 2008, allegedly in a bid to sway them to find in favour of then-ANC president Jacob Zuma.
Zuma had a matter in that court at the time.
The JSC believes the judge president should be suspended, pending a vote in the National Assembly on whether or not he should be impeached.
News24 visited the courthouse on Wednesday and was told that Hlophe had arrived at the building on Tuesday to gather some items from his office. His office was locked, but that was not unusual.
Some officials said he had simply removed the trophies for cleaning and that he was preparing for circuit court duty.
High Court judges head to rural areas at least once a year to serve local communities. It’s understood that a circuit court sitting is scheduled to start in around three weeks.
News24 could not get hold of Hlophe, but his lawyer rubbished rumours in the court’s corridors that he had vacated his office.
Answers from the JSC
News24 earlier reported that Hlophe was contemplating challenging the JSC’s decision to recommend his suspension.
However, before he challenges the decision in court, his lawyer, Barnabas Xulu, wrote to the JSC to ask for reasons to explain why it failed to allow oral arguments at its meeting on Monday. He said Hlophe was prejudiced by the JSC’s failure to hear his lawyer’s oral argument.
Hlophe wants JSC to give reasons for its recommendation that Ramaphosa suspend him
Xulu also wants reasons for the JSC’s suspension recommendation, as well as details of the composition of its meeting on Monday.
He asked to have the information by 3 August.
In May, Hlophe was granted the right to appeal a High Court ruling that endorsed the legality of the JSC investigation and vote that led to the impeachment process that he faces.
A full Bench of the Gauteng High Court found that Hlophe’s application lacked merit. Still, it granted the application on the basis that it “raised matters of significant public importance”.
Despite going ahead with his appeal, a JSC virtual meeting still voted in favour of the suspension recommendation under the provisions of Section 177(3) of the Constitution.
Hlophe previously launched an urgent bid to block his possible suspension by Ramaphosa, pending his later unsuccessful challenge to the JSC process that resulted in him being found guilty of alleged gross misconduct.
He could become the first judge in South African history to be removed from office.
Ultimately, the tribunal found that Hlophe had embarked on a premeditated campaign to influence Jafta and Nkabinde in their evaluation of Zuma’s case, including that he told Nkabinde there was no case against Zuma and that people would lose their jobs when he became president.
At the time, Zuma was challenging the legality of warrants used by the later disbanded Scorpions to seize 93 000 pages of corruption trial evidence against him.
Had Zuma succeeded in that case, which he did not, the State’s arms deal corruption prosecution against him would have been significantly damaged.
The tribunal recommended that Hlophe should face impeachment, paving the way for the JSC to recommend his suspension.
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