Hlophe’s conduct examined
Tribunal holds hearings in Johannesburg
WESTERN Cape Judge President John Hlophe will today have his conduct examined by a tribunal of his peers 12 years after he was accused of trying to influence two Constitutional Court judges to rule in favour of Jacob Zuma in the 2008 arms deal saga.
The Hlophe tribunal, whose process has been dogged by a series of court cases over the past 12 years harks back to 2008 when there was a case brought before the Constitutional Court involving Zuma, who at that time had not yet become president of the country.
This was a corruption case concerning Zuma and the arms company Thint, and their role in the multi-billion rand arms deal. It is alleged that Judge President Hlophe approached Constitutional Court judges
Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta and attempted to influence their decision in favour of Zuma in the case. The complaint regarding this was made to the Judicial Service Commission.
Judicial Conduct Tribunal secretariat spokesperson Sello Chiloane said: “The tribunal, which is led by a retired judge of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Judge Joop Labuschagne, as the tribunal president, accompanied by a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Tati Makgoka, and a practising attorney Nishani Pather, is set to begin hearings in Johannesburg on Monday (this) morning.”
Hlophe’s lawyer Barnabas Xulu would not comment except to confirm: “The hearings, which are scheduled from (this) Monday to December 11, will be held at the Premier Hotel at OR Tambo International Airport.”
A researcher at the judicial monitoring group, Judges Matter, Mbekezeli Benjamin, said: “The tribunal process is a fact-finding process that is meant to produce a report that the Judicial Service Commission will use to determine whether the judge is guilty of gross misconduct.”
Meanwhile, the secretariat of Judicial Conduct Committee said that during the week of December 14 to 18, the committee will consider the appeal by Hlophe against the decisions of the Chief Justice in the complaints lodged by Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath against Hlophe, as well as that of Hlophe against Goliath.
This appeal is scheduled for the Constitutional Court, commencing at 10am on December 14.