Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended Western Cape High Court Judge President John Hlophe from his duties with immediate effect pending a decision of the National Assembly as per Section 177 of the Constitution.
The suspension is on the condition that Judge President Hlophe completes all his outstanding cases, but not take on any new ones and in the meantime Parliament must finalise the impeachment process.
Ramaphosa said this would “ensure continuity and stability in the work of the divisional high court”.
The suspension was advised by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), which in July recommended Hlophe be impeached after finding him guilty of gross misconduct. Calls and text messages to Judge President Hlophe and his lawyer Barnabas Xulu went unanswered.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said although Ramaphosa received the JSC report on July 27, due to the long history and complexity of the matter, he had taken time to “carefully consider all the permutations of the JSC recommendations, including obtaining guidance from an independent legal opinion”.
Magwenya said Ramaphosa fully appreciated the need to balance Hlophe’s rights with those of the public and the interest of the judiciary as a whole.
In a letter to Hlophe, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath would be acting judge president for the duration of the suspension.
Meanwhile, DA justice and constitutional development parliamentary spokesperson Glynnis Breytenbach said the president’s delay had “resulted in Hlophe inflicting further damage to the judiciary through a variety of reckless statements, while also participating in JSC interviews for the Western Cape High Court”.
Breytenbach however said the decision would help restore credibility to the Western Cape High Court and urged Parliament to proceed without further delay to institute removal proceedings under the Constitution.
Judges Matter campaign research and advocacy officer Mbekezeli Benjamin said: “Although this is the first time that a judge president and leader in the judiciary has been suspended, it’s not the first time that the president has suspended a judge. There are currently two judges on suspension.”
A Judicial Conduct Tribunal (JCT) concluded that Judge President Hlophe’s conduct breached the provisions of Section 165 of the Constitution by attempting to influence the two Justices and the outcome of cases before the Constitutional Court in favour of former president Jacob Zuma .
The JSC has referred the matter to Parliament for the National Assembly to institute impeachment proceedings against Judge President Hlophe.
The issue of gross misconduct arose when 11 justices of the Constitutional Court lodged a complaint against Judge Hlophe over 13 years ago, in May 2008.
At the time, then ANC president Jacob Zuma was challenging the Scorpions’ search and seizure warrants used to gather 93 000 pages of corruption trial evidence against him.
In June 2008 Judge Hlophe lodged a counter-complaint against the 11 judges.
He accused them of having undermined the Constitution by making a public statement alleging improper conduct on his part before properly filing a complaint with the JSC.
He further complained that, by filing the complaint even before they had heard his version of the events, they had violated his rights to dignity, privacy, equality, procedural fairness and access to courts.
The tribunal consisted of Judge Joop Labuschagne, a retired judge of the Gauteng Division of the High Court; Judge Tati Makgoka, a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal and Nishani Pather, a practising attorney.
The tribunal’s report said: “Given the length of time it has taken to determine the merits of the complaint, it is prudent to give a full account of the undoubtedly inordinate delay. Much of the delay was due to litigation brought by one or the other of the main parties in the matter.”
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za