The Young Communist League (YCL) on Tuesday called on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to drop its investigation into a complaint against Cape Judge President John Hlophe.
”We call on the JSC to save face and halt its ‘shenanigans’ by discontinuing with the hearings and their intentions for an impeachment on Hlophe,” the league said in a statement.
The JSC is attempting to investigate a complaint by the Constitutional Court judges that Hlophe allegedly made an approach they regarded as inappropriate while they were considering judgement on a case relating to President Jacob Zuma.
Hlophe has in turn lodged a complaint against the judges about the way he has been treated during the saga.
He has also approached the High Court in Johannesburg asking that the investigation be halted because he feels the people appointed to hear the complaint are biased against him.
He also believes the complaints committee is not properly constituted.
The league drew on a view by one of the commissioners, Judge Mvuseni Ngubane, that the JSC wanted to get the hearing out of the way before the change in administration brought on by Zuma’s inauguration as president.
”The YCL does not in anyway suspect political conspiracy in the matter, but will not be shocked if there is evidence pointing to such given Ngubane’s ‘reasons for dissenting views’ which has been submitted to court as part of the Hlophe submission to the [Johannesburg] High Court.”
The league said it held no brief for Hlophe, but was ”interested in fairness of the already bruised justice system of our country”.
It planned a lobbying campaign until the matter was discontinued.
”We also call on the minister of justice to conduct hearings to find out if indeed some of the judges were conniving against Hlophe and bring those to book if found to have transgressed.”
The league’s president Buti Manamela last year accused the Constitutional Court judges of ”shenaniganism” in their criticism of a judgement that went against Zuma when he was still embroiled in a now terminated corruption prosecution. — Sapa