Judge John Hlophe. Photo: Bongiwe Mchunu Judge John Hlophe. Photo: Bongiwe Mchunu
Three Constitutional Court judges have allegedly declined to sit on Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s matter which was supposed to be heard next week.
The matter has since been postponed to November.
Judge Hlophe’s lawyer, Barnabas Xulu, said on Saturday: “I am looking for the information on who these judges are and why they refused to sit.”
The Concourt was meant to hear arguments on how best the court should handle the Hlophe application because most of the judges were involved in the matter in which Hlophe is accused of interfering in the fraud and corruption case involving President Jacob Zuma.
The former chief justice had given directions that various legal bodies should submit argument as amicus curiae (friends of the court).
Judge Hlophe was supposed to appeal against the two Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgments which prompted the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to agree to re-open a complaint into his conduct.
The second SCA case involves Freedom Under Law, who had also prepared to argue on Thursday.
In March the SCA found that the JSC had acted incorrectly in its handling of a complaint of misconduct brought against Judge Hlophe by the 11 Concourt judges who sat in 2008.
The judges had accused Hlophe of trying to influence their decision in the cases involving Zuma and French arms company Thint.
Upholding a decision by the Western Cape High Court, in an application brought by Premier Helen Zille, the SCA agreed that the JSC had not been properly constituted when it decided on the complaint against Judge Hlophe and the counter-complaint he laid against the Concourt judges.
The court also ruled that the JSC had erred in applying the criminal principle of proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt instead of considering what was most likely to have taken place when Judge Hlophe spoke to Justice Bess Nkabinde and Acting Justice Chris Jafta.
Meanwhile Zille has instructed her legal team to write to the Constitutional Court requesting the reasons for the case’s postponement.
“All three judges involved have deliberated on this matter before, and there should therefore be no reason why they need to postpone the hearing, which also results in more taxpayers’ money being spent on the matter,” Zille’s spokeswoman Trace Venter said.
Zille was informed that the matter had been postponed to November, but no reasons were given, Venter added.
“We are astounded by the late notice of this postponement as well as the fact that no reasons were given,” Venter said.
JSC spokesman Dumisa Ntsebeza SC said only three Concourt judges had not yet sat on the matter. - Weekend Argus