Lobby group AfriForum has approached the Constitutional Court in a bid to have former Western Cape High Court John Hlophe kicked off the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
Earlier this year, Hlophe became one of the first judges in post-democratic South Africa to be impeached.
This on the back of a Judicial Conduct Tribunal’s finding that he was guilty of gross misconduct for attempting to improperly influence two Constitutional Court Justices in 2008 in a lynchpin appeal involving Former President Jacob Zuma and his arms deal prosecution.
In his new role as the MK Party’s Parliamentary leader, Hlophe has now been deployed to serve on the JSC, which is, among other things, responsible for recommending new judges for appointment to the bench.
AfriForum in its papers said it would be “inappropriate that aspirant judges be assessed on their ethics, integrity, and fitness for judicial office by [John] Hlophe” against the backdrop of the findings against him.
The group said this would “undermine the credibility of the JSC and the integrity of the judiciary”.
It also said it was “a problem” that judges who would appear before him could wind up being involved in the “inevitable” reviews and appeals expected to follow once Jacob Zuma’s criminal case is finally decided.
And they added it would be inappropriate for Hlophe to be involved in deciding who the next Judge President of the Western Cape would be “when his animosity towards the current acting Judge President Patricia Goliath is well-known and has also formed the subject of litigation”.
AfriForum wants Hlophe’s designation declared invalid and set aside, and for the court to order the National Assembly to “provide for mechanisms including making rules” for oversight of the JSC “without delay”.
-EWN
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