Complaint lodged against Mogoeng over Israel remarks

HUMAN rights group Africa4Palestine has lodged a complaint against Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) over his comments about Israel.

In an affidavit to the JSC, the director of Africa4Palestine Muhammed Desai said that Mogoeng had become embroiled in political controversy in contravention of the Judicial Code of Conduct and that he had “involved himself in extra-judicial activities” that were incompatible with the impartiality of judges.

Mogoeng has been criticised for saying, while taking part in a webinar hosted by The Jerusalem Post, that as a Christian he was bound to love Israel and to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem”.

He prefaced his remarks by saying that, as a South African citizen, he was bound by the policy decisions of the government.

But he said that he believed the country would be wise to reflect on its position from an objective vantage point and to take a “principled stance” that would allow it to play a meaningful role in reconciliation in the Israeli-Palestine conflic.

The ANC was among those to criticise his remarks, saying it was unfortunate that the chief justice chose to “clearly and openly” oppose the government’s position on Israel.

Mogoeng has stated that he would not retract his words or apologise.

“Even if 50 million people can march every day for the next 10 years for me to retract or apologise for what I said, I will not do it. I will never say I hate anybody, or any nation. I love everybody. I love Israel, I love the Jews, I love Palestinians,” he said.

Desai said the chief justice had waded into “one of the greatest political controversies in South Africa and in the world”.

He said Mogoeng’s words indicated clear bias towards Israel and therefore he should recuse himself from a case involving hate speech charges against Bongani Masuku, the head of international relations in Cosatu.

In a speech, Masuku had called for action against Zionists.

The matter is before the Constitutional Court, where Masuku turned to after earlier, adverse findings by the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Equality Court.