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/ 3 June 2008

‘Can’t have JSC fiddling’ on Hlophe

The General Council of the Bar, representing most of the country’s advocates, on Tuesday added its voice to calls for Cape Judge President John Hlophe to step down. Chairperson Jannie Eksteen said if Hlophe did not voluntarily go on leave, the minister of justice or the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) ”must see how that can be facilitated as a matter of urgency”.

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/ 3 June 2008

Call for Hlophe to step down

Cape Judge President John Hlophe should step down from his post until the latest complaint against him has been resolved, according to the Cape Bar Council. ”It would be untenable for Judge Hlophe to continue in office pending the determination of the complaint by the Judicial Services Commission,” the council said on Tuesday.

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/ 2 June 2008

No date yet for JSC meeting on Hlophe

No date has yet been fixed for the Judicial Services Commission’s (JSC) meeting to consider new allegations against Cape Judge President John Hlophe, the JSC’s secretary said late on Monday. ”Right now they are still trying to find a date,” said commission secretary Vuyelwa Masangwana.

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/ 2 June 2008

Leon slams Hlophe, Mbeki and Zuma

The Democratic Alliance’s Tony Leon on Monday accused President Thabo Mbeki, African National Congress president Jacob Zuma and Cape Judge President John Hlophe of ”constitutional vandalism”. Addressing the Mizrachi Organisation in Cape Town, the former DA leader called for a government inclusive of ”all talent” available.

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/ 31 May 2008

ANC: Zuma has no links to Hlophe

The African National Congress (ANC) said on Saturday that its president, Jacob Zuma, had nothing to do with a judge accused of trying to influence members of the Constitutional Court in cases involving him. Media reported on Friday that the court said Cape Judge President John Hlophe had approached several members of its bench to influence them.

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/ 10 March 2008

Anger at Cape eviction order

The Cape High Court on Monday gave the go-ahead for the eviction of several thousand residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement to make way for a housing development. Hundreds of Joe Slovo residents, who had gathered in the street outside the court, chanted angry slogans after the judgment was handed down.

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/ 27 February 2008

Court rejects Najwa Petersen’s second bail bid

The Cape High Court on Wednesday rejected a second bail bid by murder accused Najwa Petersen, expressing scepticism over her ”almost miraculous recovery” from mental illness. ”The appellant’s case relating to her precarious state of health, as presented in the first bail application, appears to have undergone a complete volte-face in the second,” the judges said.

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/ 9 February 2008

Alarm bells ringing for Constitution

The past few months have taught us a depressing lesson about the long and uncertain journey required by constitutional democracy. Foundational principles of accountability, transparency and the independent operation of institutions through which constitutional democracy is mediated, including the judiciary, are all under great pressure.

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/ 3 January 2008

Najwa’s bail appeal postponed

The Cape High Court on Thursday postponed Najwa Pietersen’s second bail appeal to January 28, to be heard by a full bench instead of a single judge as initially planned. Pietersen is to go on trial in the Cape High Court for the alleged murder of her famous husband, Taliep.

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/ 13 December 2007

Joe Slovo ‘relocation’ in court’s hands

The proposed relocation of residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement is a bid to reverse century-old wrongs, the Cape High Court was told on Thursday. Cape Judge President John Hlophe was hearing an application by provincial authorities for permission to relocate the community, currently living in shacks alongside Cape Town’s N2 highway.

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/ 12 October 2007

Hlophe in opposition’s crosshairs

Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s refusal to resign is a typical example of persons holding high office refusing to face the consequences of their actions, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille. ”By refusing to step down, contrary to the dictates of good governance, such senior office-bearers undermine our young democracy,” she said on Friday.

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/ 9 October 2007

Chief justice mum on Hlophe and Pikoli

Chief Justice Pius Langa steered clear on Tuesday of the controversy around Cape Judge President John Hlophe and suspended National Director of Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli. He told students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban that he knew there were many who wanted him to speak on President Thabo Mbeki’s decision to suspend Pikoli.

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/ 9 October 2007

Cape advocates say Hlophe must quit

Nine senior advocates from the Cape Bar, some of them former acting judges, have publicly called on Cape Judge President John Hlophe to quit. ”We believe that there cannot be public confidence in the continuation in office now of Judge Hlophe,” they said in a letter published on Tuesday.

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/ 4 October 2007

JSC: No impeachment proceedings against Hlophe

No impeachment proceedings will be instituted against Cape Judge President John Hlophe, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) said on Thursday. Chief Justice Pius Langa said although the JSC members were divided on whether there was sufficient evidence to justify proceedings that could lead to impeachment, it was generally agreed the proceedings should not be pursued.