DA calls for public JSC hearings

2008-07-07 16:28

Johannesburg - Judicial Service Commission (JSC) hearings of oral evidence in a complaint against Cape Judge President John Hlophe should be open to the public, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday.

"The gravity of the JSC's hearings demands that this issue be resolved as expeditiously and transparently as possible," DA leader Helen Zille said in a statement.

"We must reduce the opportunity for (African National Congress) politicians to further impugn the integrity of the Constitutional Court ahead of the (trial of ANC president Jacob Zuma)," she said.

Judge Hlophe is accused of approaching some of the Constitutional Court's judges improperly while they were deliberating cases involving Zuma.

Hlophe has laid a counter complaint, claiming the court abused his rights by making its complaint against him public.

Good reason to open hearings

Zille said she had written to the JSC's deputy chair, Justice Craig Howie, asking him to open the Hlophe hearings to the media and the public.

"According to the rules governing JSC hearings, the JSC is entitled to permit the media and the public to attend any inquiry unless good cause is shown for their exclusion," Zille said.

"There is certainly good reason to open the hearings to the public and the media," she added.

The JSC could not immediately be reached for comment.

Zille said it was crucial the public be given the opportunity to witness first-hand what transpired at the JSC, following the labelling of the judiciary as a "counter-revolutionary force" by ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe.

"This is vital to prevent any further suggestions from the ANC - as outrageous as they are - that the Constitutional Court has an agenda separate from its mandate to uphold the constitution," she said.

Smear campaign

"It is clear that Mantashe's comments are carefully calculated to smear the Constitutional Court's integrity prior to its rulings on aspects of the Zuma trial.

"A sustained attack on the judiciary will help smooth the way for the ANC to seek 'a political solution' to the Zuma trial, should he be found guilty while holding the office of President of the Republic."

Zille said the only party in the matter with an agenda was the ANC and its allies.

"It has shown that it has chosen to sacrifice our hard-won constitutional freedoms in an attempt to stop one man from facing justice," she charged.

"At a time like this, responsible politicians should be upholding the constitution, not mobilising public sentiment against the court designed to protect it.

'Kill for Zuma'

"The hard truth is that, as the recent comments by (ANC Youth League president) Julius Malema, (Congress of South African Trade Unions general-secretary) Zwelinzima Vavi and Gwede Mantashe have demonstrated, there are very few responsible politicians left in the tripartite alliance."

At the funeral of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union's vice president and ANC veteran Pretty Shuping, Vavi echoed a remark by Malema that he would "kill for Zuma".

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) called on Vavi and Malema to retract their statements.

Vavi went on to describe the SAHRC - a Chapter nine constitutional watchdog - as "liberal" and "yesterday's guardian of human rights".

'Conflicts of facts'

The JSC said on Saturday that it would hear oral evidence from the Constitutional Court and Cape Judge John Hlophe on a date yet to be announced.

Spokesperson Marumo Moerane said the JSC had decided to hear the evidence due to "conflicts of fact on the papers placed before it".

Moerane said both parties had made representations regarding the future conduct of the matter.

He said Hlophe's lawyers made an application to the JSC for certain members of the commission not to sit to hear the complaint.

Notice of the date and venue of the oral hearing would be made known once arrangements had been finalised.

- SAPA