The ATM said it is appalled at what they said appears to be a blatant display of Judicial Capture.
Late on Monday night, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) issued a media statement recommending that Judge President of the Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa, John Hlophe, be suspended by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The commission met at a meeting on Monday, constituted without members designated by the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces.
“The JSC deliberated and resolved to advise the president to suspend (Judge) Hlophe in terms of section 177 (3) of the Constitution. This is following the decision of the JSC on August 25, 2021 made in terms of section 20 (3) of the JSC Act 9 of 1994 that (Judge) Hlophe is guilty of gross misconduct,” said the commission.
This morning the ATM said the power of the president to suspend in terms of s177(3) cannot be exercised as yet because the ground on which the suspension is based is still pending at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The party said Ramaphosa is not compelled to suspend, because the relevant section in the Constitution does not say “must”, it says “may”.
“The ATM calls on Ramaphosa not to act irrationally and to bear in mind that he is in fact conflicted as far as the Western Cape High Court is concerned. Ramaphosa has cases pending in the Western Cape High Court, including the Phala-Phala farmgate questions, the ATM’s secret ballot case on the no confidence motion in him, and the Public Protector case,” said ATM national spokesperson Sibusiso Mncwabe.
“Any decision to entertain the recommendation of the JSC should be deemed interference by the executive on judicial processes”.
Mncwane said one would have thought that the members of the JSC would be the first people to respect processes pending in the courts.
“It is indeed shocking that the JSC decided to undermine judicial protocols. This action by the JSC unfortunately has unintended consequences of giving credence to allegations of judicial capture. What or who exactly is putting the JSC under pressure at the risk of destroying the credibility of our judiciary?” he asked.
Mncwabe said this complaint against Hlophe is more than a decade old and has no bearing on his day-to-day duties and thus the issue of him interfering with the investigation “does not even arise”.
“Ramaphosa must reject this approach by the JSC and prevail upon them to respect the ongoing court process, and the presumption (Judge) Hlophe's innocence “ Mncwabe said.
Recently the country saw Public Protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane suspended less than 24 hours after she submitted 31 questions to Ramaphosa regarding the Phala-Phala farm matter and there was no valid explanation given.
There are reports alleging that Ramaphosa does not want to be scrutinised regarding his responses to Mkhwebane’s 31 questions; in this case, it is suspected that (Judge) Hlophe can be a diversion.