The DA has launched an urgent court bid to stop impeached judge president and current MK party parliamentary leader John Hlophe from taking up a seat on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
The DA called the decision by the National Assembly to accept Hlophe’s recent nomination “irrational and inconsistent”, as it was the JSC itself that found Hlophe guilty of gross misconduct and recommended his impeachment.
The JSC is the body comprising lawyers, the executive and MPs that oversees all judicial appointments in SA, and rules on complaints against judges. It holds hearings for judicial appointments and makes recommendations to the president to fill vacant seats.
The JSC ruled earlier in 2024 that Hlophe was guilty of gross misconduct for trying to influence Constitutional Court judges in matters involving former president Jacob Zuma in 2008. Hlophe was subsequently impeached after a vote by the National Assembly in March.
Hlophe returned to the spotlight after the national elections when he became a central figure in Jacob Zuma’s MK party. With a new parliament, new MPs had to be nominated for the JSC. The MK nominated Hlophe, noting his experience serving on the JSC when he was still the judge president of the Western Cape high court.
The National Assembly accepted the nomination in early July, despite opposition from the DA, FF Plus and ACDP.
In court papers, DA chair Helen Zille said the National Assembly’s decision to accept Hlophe’s nomination “undermines the role of the JSC... for Dr Hlophe to sit on the very body that found him guilty of gross misconduct … and to play a role in choosing new judges.”
The JSC is holding its next hearings for judges in October, but Zille has noted a “real risk” that if Hlophe sits on the JSC, “a large number [of judicial candidates] will object and apply for the recusal of Dr Hlophe”. This would end up “paralysing the JSC… tying it up in endless review processes”.
As a result, fewer judicial appointments would occur, badly affecting judicial appointments for vacant seats that need filling, including at the Constitutional Court.
Zille said there is no objection to the MK party appointing one of its own, “but it is not entitled to designate Dr Hlophe.”
The DA is seeking an urgent ruling from the Western Cape High Court — the very court Hlophe once headed — before the October hearings.
The DA will later seek a review of the National Assembly’s decision to designate Hlophe as a JSC member, but the DA “accepts it will not obtain final relief” soon. For now, it wants to interdict him taking up his seat
Zille has noted that the urgency and interdict is necessary because if Hlophe sits on the JSC, but is later found to have been wrongly designated, “his participation will render the JSC’s [October recommendations for appointments] unlawful”.
Hlophe, the MK party, the speaker of the National Assembly and the JSC were all cited by Zille, and have yet to file a response. The DA hopes for a court hearing in September.
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