Cape Judge President John Hlophe allegedly told two Constitutional Court judges to rule in favour of African National Congress president Jacob Zuma if they wished to secure their futures, City Press reported on Sunday.
The newspaper, quoting an unnamed source ”familiar with the proceedings against the judge”, said Hlophe told the two judges that he was ”going to be the next chief justice”.
”He basically told them … ‘there will be a lot of changes in the judiciary. You must think about your future’, before telling them to rule in favour of Zuma,” said the source.
The newspaper article said a second source said Constitutional Court Justice Bess Nkabinde and Acting Justice Christopher Jafta were approached individually in their offices.
The two judges then allegedly told the other constitutional court judges, who agreed to convene a meeting.
”After the two told them of their encounter with Hlophe, they all agreed that his actions constituted a serious offence which must be referred to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC)” said the source.
City Press said Hlophe had not commented at the time the paper went to press, and that attempts to contact Nkabinde and Jafta had been unsuccessful.
The JSC will only meet in a month’s time to decide whether there is a prima facie case against Hlophe.
The JSC met for over two hours on Friday to discuss the complaint by the judges.
But the meeting, chaired by President of the Supreme Court of Appeal Craig Howie, only discussed procedural matters.
”The commission’s meeting today [Friday] was convened to consider written communication from the complainant judges conveying the facts underlying the complaint. The judges concerned have been unable to meet on this date,” the commission said in a written media statement, refusing to answer any questions on the issue.
Judges of the Constitutional Court have now been given until June 13 to hand in written statements and to ”provide the facts” in those statements. – Sapa