Hlophe shredded by hard-hitting ruling
In a bitter blow for Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe, the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has rejected his bid to set aside gross misconduct findings against him, warning that his narrow interpretation of the Constitution would leave the JSC paralysed to ‘ensure his own immunity’.
The saga came to a head last year when the JSC found that conversations he initiated with the two most junior judges on the Constitutional Court Bench – Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta – with regards to Jacob Zuma’s legal woes, were flagrantly improper.
Nkabinde and Jafta had yet to make a ruling in a case involving the then Deputy President.
The 13-year-old saga, which the court yesterday referred to as ‘unique in the history of any judiciary’, saw Hlophe rebuked over his interpretation of the Constitution.
And unless he seeks to appeal it, the hard-hitting judgment clears the way for the first ever impeachment of a judge in Parliament.
‘Matters of gross misconduct on the part of a judge and subsequent questions of impeachment lie at the heart of the integrity of our judicial system,’ the 75-page judgment noted.
The JSC said it is ‘considering’ yesterday’s dismissal of Hlophe’s challenge.
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