By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The High Court in Johannesburg has dismissed Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s multiple challenges to gross misconduct findings against him.
Hlophe was found guilty of gross misconduct for trying to sway Constitutional Court justices Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta to rule in favour of the former president Jacob Zuma.
This was in 2008 when attempts were made to invalidate search and seizure warrants by the Scorpions.
Hlophe had filed a review application at the Johannesburg High Court, seeking to have the JSC’s gross misconduct findings against him set aside and that the matter goes back to the commission.
However, the JSC has come out victorious in the matter after the application was dismissed.
On Thursday, a full Bench of the High Court rejected Hlophe’s argument that, rather than voting on whether he should be impeached, the National Assembly should conduct its own investigation into the allegations of misconduct.
It said this argument was legally unsound, as it was the Judicial Service Commission that was legally empowered to investigate the conduct of judges accused of wrongdoing – not Parliament.
Among other things, the full Bench also rejected Hlophe’s argument that he was unaware that it was improper for judges who were not involved in a particular case to express a view on that case, when not invited to so, to the judges dealing with it.
Hlophe has consistently maintained that his discussions with Jafta and Nkabinde were innocent academic discussions, despite evidence that he stated that there was “no case” against Zuma and that he was being “persecuted”, just as Hlophe had been persecuted.
The full Bench also rejected Hlophe’s argument that certain members of the JSC, including Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo and Justice Sisi Khampepe, were conflicted and should not have been allowed to vote on the gross misconduct findings made against him.