Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s suspension from his duties raises suspicions of a retaliatory effort by President Ramaphosa

Judge President of the Western Cape John Hlophe. Picture: Dumisani Sibeko/African News Agency (ANA)

Judge President of the Western Cape John Hlophe. Picture: Dumisani Sibeko/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Dec 15, 2022

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Johannesburg - The suspension of Judge President of the Western Cape High Court, John Hlophe, has been labelled a retaliation by a conflicted President Cyril Ramaphosa.

During a 2020 interview on The Insight Factor, Hlophe spoke about the Capital's failure to co-opt him and turn him into a puppet of the masters.

On Wednesday, Ramaphosa suspended Judge Hlophe for trying to influence ConCourt justices to violate their oaths of office, following the advice of the Judicial Services Committee. It was reported that Hlophe’s suspension will remain in place pending the result of impeachment proceedings against Hlophe for gross misconduct.

During an interview with Thabo Makwakwa, the recently suspended Western Cape judge spoke of a system created to collapse all those who do not agree with the Capital and its masters.

“I think the enemy works as follows: They try to co-opt you. If they succeed, they will use you. You become a shining example because, at that point, you are just their spokesman. I rather be a free man in my grave than live as a puppet. So, you become a puppet; they control you, and I am not one of those people,” Hlophe said.

Many believe this to be the case with the timing of his suspension seen to be suspicious after Hlophe found against Ramaphosa when the Western Cape High Court ruled that Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s suspension was based on bias.

More than 13 years after the incident, Hlophe was found guilty of gross misconduct in 2021 by the Judicial Conduct Tribunal of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

He was found to have “breached the provisions of Section 165 of the Constitution by improperly attempting to influence two justices of the Constitutional Court to violate their oaths of office.”

On Wednesday, the EFF reacted with contempt to Hlophe’s suspension, saying Ramaphosa's decision to suspend Judge Hlophe was politically motivated.

Reacting to Hlophe’s suspension, the EFF said it was ironic that Ramaphosa would suspend Hlophe while he was facing allegations of money laundering following the revelations of the Phala Phala farm theft, where millions in American dollars were hidden and later stolen.

“Ramaphosa’s suspension of Judge Hlophe is clouded by a reasonable suspicion that there may be a conflict of interest, in the same way his suspension of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane was biased and conflicted.

“His suspension of Judge Hlophe is characterised by an attitude of retaliation because it was the Western Cape High Court that found that Ramaphosa's suspension of Mkhwebane was unlawful and based on bias because she decided to probe allegations surrounding Phala Phala,” the party said.

The Star