Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille has strongly criticised Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe, saying he ”behaves like an African National Congress [ANC] deployee”.
Writing in her weekly newsletter on the DA website on Friday, Zille said the possibility that a judge president attempted to improperly influence Constitutional Court judges for political ends had shaken faith in the independence of the judiciary and entire constitutional order.
”If Judge Hlophe did attempt to sway Constitutional Court judges to support ANC president Jacob Zuma’s appeal against the admissibility of evidence in his corruption trial, it will take time and conscious effort to restore public trust in the judiciary.
”If Judge Hlophe did not do so, it means the full bench of the Constitutional Court lied in its statement — which, needless to say, would throw us into a full-blown constitutional crisis.
”Let it be said: It is highly unlikely that a full bench of the Constitutional Court would make such an unprecedented allegation against a senior judge without clear and sufficient evidence,” Zille said.
If the allegations against Hlophe were true, what motivated him to act in this way? Why would a judge risk his career to further the ends of a politician? she asked.
”The answer, 14 years into ANC rule, is this: An ambitious judge president, who wants to get ahead, may actually consider it a greater career risk to demonstrate independence from the dominant faction of the ruling party. He may consider aligning himself with Zuma a shrewd career move.
”Indeed, Judge Hlophe is alleged to have told Constitutional Court judges Bess Nkaminde and Christopher Jafta that ‘he was going to be the next chief justice’ and that they should ‘think about their future’, before telling them to rule in favour of Zuma,” Zille said.
On this evidence, Hlophe emerged as the personification of the ANC’s policy to ”transform the collective mindset of the judiciary” to make it more compliant with the ruling party.
Hlophe was the epitome of a judge who was ”in consonance” with the ruling party.
”He behaves like an ANC deployee; he is tainted by shady dealings and he is not afraid to play the race card when he needs to,” she said.
Fortunately, the unanimous response of the Constitutional Court bench showed Hlophe’s alleged behaviour was not the norm — at least in the upper echelons of the judiciary.
This was an encouraging sign that judicial independence could be maintained, despite political threats.
It was heartening too that the Judicial Service Commission had acknowledged the situation’s urgency and had moved relatively quickly and decisively to deal with it.
”The challenge now is for all stakeholders in this affair, including political parties and legal associations, to use temperate and non-racial language when commenting on the matter.
”If the debate degenerates into a racial slanging match, the chances of justice being served will decrease dramatically — particularly in the event of a parliamentary impeachment hearing. We must not let that happen,” Zille said. — Sapa