President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended Western Cape judge president John Hlophe, almost 15 years after all the then justices of the Constitutional Court laid a complaint of judicial misconduct against him.
The presidency said on Wednesday the suspension was “in effect immediately”, but was “on condition that Hlophe completes all part-heard matters and reserved judgments”.
The suspension is pending a decision of the National Assembly on whether the judge president should be impeached.
In May 2008, the entire bench of the apex court and its acting justices at the time complained that Hlophe had approached two of their number in an attempt to influence the outcome of a judgment then pending before the court related to corruption charges against former president Jacob Zuma.
The presidency said the Judicial Conduct Tribunal (JCT) concluded that Hlophe’s conduct breached the provisions of the constitution by improperly attempting to influence justices to violate their oaths of office.
“The JCT established that Hlophe’s behaviour seriously threatened and interfered with the independence, impartiality, dignity and effectiveness of the Constitutional Court and undermined public confidence in the judicial system.” The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) “has referred the matter to parliament for the National Assembly to institute impeachment proceedings against Hlophe”.
The president took more than four months to make a decision after the JSC recommended suspension for Hlophe.
The presidency said that “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”. Ramaphosa fully appreciated the need to balance “Hlophe’s rights with those of the public and the interest of the judiciary as a whole”.
After 15 years since the complaint was first laid, its finalisation has been beset with delays, mostly due to litigation.
The JCT found him guilty of gross misconduct in April last year and the JSC referred him to parliament for impeachment in August 2021. Hlophe challenged these decisions in court. The high court dismissed his case but granted him leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal, which is yet to hear the appeal. He has also said that he would challenge the JSC’s decision to recommend his suspension.
Since the first complaint in 2008 there have been two more against him. One was in January 2020 — an ugly fight with his deputy, Patricia Goliath, which pulled in at least 10 other judges of the division. The other complaint was in 2021 from an advocate at the Cape bar who alleged Hlophe prejudged a case he was due to argue, denied his client his right of access to court and swore at him in chambers.
Hlophe has yet to comment on the allegations.
On the dispute with Goliath, the appeals committee of the Judicial Conduct Committee has recommended a tribunal be established in respect of the allegations and counter-allegations. The JSC must now decide whether to endorse that recommendation and whether to recommend suspension for Hlophe and also for Goliath.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.