A full bench of the Witwatersrand Local Division will hear Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s application against the Constitutional Court and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Tuesday.
Hlophe is applying for an order in the Johannesburg High Court to have action by the Constitutional Court against him declared unlawful.
Hlophe is challenging the Constitutional Court’s announcement, in a media release in June, that he tried to unduly influence its judges. He said the court abused his rights when it made the matter public.
The Constitutional Court’s judges claimed Hlophe tried to improperly influence Judge Bess Nkabinde and Acting Judge Chris Jafta in their decisions on the legality of search-and-seizure raids in African National Congress president Jacob Zuma’s corruption case.
Hlophe is also asking the high court for an order to stop the JSC hearing on the same matter against him. Earlier, the JSC dismissed an application by Hlophe for the recusal of five JSC commissioners in the matter.
Hlophe claimed the commissioners were biased because they had dealt with another case against him, where he was accused of receiving money from investment group Oasis without asking the justice minister’s permission. — Sapa