Twist in Hlophe case

2009-06-25 09:28

Philip de Bruin

Pretoria - Cape Judge President John Hlophe on Wednesday encountered some resistance from a rather unexpected source in his battles with Constitutional Court judges.

President Jacob Zuma and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe submitted a joint notice to the Constitutional Court in which they indicate they will oppose Hlophe's request that they be added as parties to his (Hlophe's) request that the entire bench of the Constitutional Court step down from his application for appeal.

Hlophe submitted his application to appeal after nine judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal unanimously decided that the Constitutional Court's judges had not violated his rights to dignity and equality with their handling of the complaints they'd submitted against Hlophe at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Hlophe had initially said the judges of the Constitutional Court may consider his application for appeal, as long as they decide in his favour and grant his application.

Don't want to be involved

Shortly thereafter, he seemed to change his mind and said that the judges of the Constitutional Court shouldn't even touch his application for appeal.

At the same time, he indicated that he wanted to add Zuma and Radebe as parties to his application for withdrawal, since they will be responsible for appointing the acting judges in the Constitutional Court, if the judges of this court do indeed withdraw.

But according to Wednesday's notice, neither Zuma nor Radebe are interested in becoming involved with Hlophe's application. They will fight any formal application from Hlophe to add them as parties to the matter, they say.

Ironically, the charge against Hlophe at the JSC is based on allegations that he tried to influence Constitutional Court judges to render a verdict in Zuma's favour in an (at that stage) undelivered verdict in one of Zuma's cases against the National Prosecuting Authority.

- Die Burger