Judge Hlophe turns on his accusers

Cape Town Judge President John Hlophe has called on the Judicial Service Commission to investigate Chief Justice Pius Langa and his deputy Dikgang Moseneke for gross misconduct, the Star reported on Wednesday.

The paper reported that Hlophe said the two men had been “politically motivated” to back up complaints about him.

Hlophe has been accused of trying to influence Judge Chris Jafta and Judge Bess Nkabinde to rule in favour of African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma in his corruption cases.

The newspaper reports that Hlophe’s call for the investigation of the chief justice is a ground for impeachment.

In Hlophe’s response to the Constitutional Court’s complaint against him, he maintained the complaint was based on hearsay and showed little evidence that he tried to improperly influence the court.

Hlophe however admitted that he told Justice Jafta that “we are relying on you”.

“My remark is correctly recorded in that I did say that ‘sesithembele kinina’ (we’re relying on you) but it was never intended to convey ... that I meant a positive finding on the Zuma/Thint matter,” Hlophe said.

The newspaper reported that Hlophe did not believe that his opinion could influence a competent judge.

“I do not believe that expressing an opinion to an independent-minded and competent judge as Justice Jafta would be interpreted as an attempt at influencing him to rule favourably,” he said.

Hlophe denied that he had any connections with the national intelligence or that people would lose their jobs when Zuma became president, the Star reported.