Western Cape High Court Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath has obtained permission from the SCA to sue Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe for defamation.

News24 reports that Goliath’s lawyer, Riaan Meintjes said: ‘We are still considering and advising her on the merit part of it.’

In terms of Section 47 of the Superior Courts Act, consent needs to be obtained from the head of the court to allow civil proceedings against a judge.

Meintjes said Salie-Hlophe was currently an acting judge in the SCA. Consent had been obtained from the forum’s acting president Xola Petse. The possible legal action surrounds an explosive statement, released in January 2020, in which Salie-Hlophe accused Goliath of, among other things, using the k-word.

‘She would openly and comfortably state that during her life people treated her condescendingly, but at least she is not a 'k*ff**tjie', regarding it as an accomplishment,’ Salie-Hlophe's scathing response to the furore read.

Salie-Hlophe considered herself as ‘collateral damage’ in an attack targeted at her husband, Judge President John Hlophe, against whom Goliath had lodged an official complaint with the JSC. She had accused him of gross misconduct, which she said was compromising the functioning of the Western Cape High 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.

Goliath had also in her complaint claimed that Salie-Hlophe had wielded immense power, including determining her own working days and hours, as well as having major clout in the appointment of acting judges.

Hlophe had lodged a counter-complaint, accusing Goliath 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 News24 report says the Judicial Conduct Appeals Committee recommended in September that a tribunal be established to investigate the allegations against both of them.

Salie-Hlophe in her statement two years ago charged that Goliath was attempting to oust the Judge President in order to succeed him, while attempting to destroy her and advance her own career. She further claimed that Goliath had an ‘unhealthy obsession’ with her marriage and had called her husband ‘an old black man’.

Goliath, in a letter to Salie-Hlophe in March, demanded that she publish a ‘prominent and full retraction’ of the statement, as well as an apology or she would seek legal remedy.

Full News24 report