Hlophe’s day in court ends in historic impeachment
On Wednesday, 21 February, hours after suspended Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s urgent application to halt Parliament’s proceedings to impeach him was scrapped from the court roll, MPS voted overwhelmingly – 305 ayes to 27 nays – for the process of his removal from office to begin.
Later, MPS also voted on Judge Nkola Motata, who had tried to wriggle out of a drunk driving incident by lying, to be removed with 296 ayes, one nay and 13 abstentions. Like Hlophe, he had also turned to the courts to stave off the vote.
Their impeachment results in the loss of the salaries for life paid to judges.
But what is a vote in the National Assembly without EFF members being dragged out by Parliament’s protection services after trading insults and jibes?
Earlier, presiding officer Cedrik Frolik announced that suspended EFF leader Julius Malema and five other members as well as ANC MP and Deputy Minister of Small Business Development Dipuo Peters would not be allowed to vote.
Peters was suspended in November 2023 for her role in maladministration, corruption and mismanagement at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa.
After the vote, EFF bruisers Victoria Mente, Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi, Nqobile Mhlongo and Natasha Ntlangwini were escorted out for yelling that Freedom Front Plus chief whip Corné Mulder was “the son of a racist” and thus also one.
EFF MP Busisiwe Mkhwebane likened the vote to the “selling out of our liberation ideas”. She accused people with “racist tendencies” of abusing Hlophe, who had served “with dignity”.
The DA issued a statement saying that, after 15 years, its position that Hlophe “lacks the integrity to be a judge has been affirmed by the National Assembly, which has adopted a resolution supporting the Judicial Service Commission’s finding that Hlophe should be removed”.
In the statement, MP Glynnis Breytenbach, who is the DA’S spokesperson on justice, said this was “a historic moment in our democratic history, where, for the first time, a judge will be impeached”. It underscored “the importance of upholding the highest ethical standards, the rule of law and the Constitution among judicial officers”.