Judicial Service Commission says not informed of Hlophe’s withdrawal [VIDEO]

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) said it has not been informed of former judge John Hlophe’s withdrawal from the body.

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party announced Hlophe’s withdrawal on Monday afternoon, following a formal letter addressed to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza.

“This withdrawal takes effect immediately. The MK party will not allow the name of Dr John Hlophe to be associated with or used to legitimise a patently misleading, fraudulent, and improperly constituted Judicial Service Commission,” party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said.

Watch Advocate Sesi Baloyi commenting on the withdrawal of John Hlophe from the JSC

JSC ‘properly constituted’

JSC spokesperson Advocate Sesi Baloyi said the body currently remains properly constituted.

“As matters stand, we are properly constituted when the MK Party’s application was argued on Friday, which is that Dr Hlophe is still is a is a member of the commission because he was designated, you had that whole argument that was made in court.

ALSO READ: Hlophe withdraws from JSC

“So the position of JSC when we commenced this morning, the position remained what it was on Friday when we communicated that we would continue with the interviews after the meeting decided to refuse the request for a postponement,” Baloyi said.

No decision

Baloyi said the JSC called an urgent meeting overnight to consider the body’s position on the Hlophe matter.

“Our guide is the Constitution and the JSC Act and both documents do deal with matters of a Commissioner not being there because they’ve seized being a commissioner, and we will be guided by that.

“But we didn’t make a decision. We see decided that it’s prematurely going to make a decision,” Baloyi said.

Hlophe barred

The MK party’s decision to withdraw Hlophe from the JSC follows the impeached for judge being barred from participating in the interviews by the body.

Hlophe was initially interdicted from sitting in the judicial interviews by the Western Cape High Court on 27 September.

The high court granted the interim order to the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Corruption Watch.

The ruling is pending the outcome of a review application, seeking to overturn Parliament’s vote to appoint Hlophe to the JSC — a move that faced widespread criticism.

Leave to appeal

While the MK party filed an application for leave to appeal the interdict, it also submitted an urgent application last week.

This application, heard on Friday, 4 October, challenged the JSC’s decision not to postpone the interviews.

However, the following day, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg dismissed the MK party’s case.

Judge Stuart Wilson found that the JSC remained properly constituted and can continue its work despite Hlophe’s absence.

Impeachment

Hlophe, who became the first judge in the country’s history to be impeached, was elected in July month to serve on the JSC, a body that appoint judges and regulates their ethical and professional conduct in South Africa.

In April 2021, the Judicial Conduct Tribunal found Hlophe guilty of gross misconduct. The decision was confirmed by the JSC, which recommended that parliament impeach him. He was impeached in February after a vote in parliament.

Hlophe’s conviction resulted from his attempts to unlawfully influence two judges of the Constitutional Court, judges Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta, in 2008 to rule in favour of Jacob Zuma in cases before them.

Additional reporting by Molefe Seeletsa

NOW READ: MK Party calls decision to bar John Hlophe from JSC a ‘lynching’