Premier Alan Winde welcomes suspension of Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe
26 July 2022
Last night, Premier Alan Winde virtually attended a meeting of the Judicial Service Commission where he and other commissioners voted to recommend that the Judge President of the Western Cape High Court, John Hlophe, who had previously been found guilty of impeachable gross misconduct, be suspended.
Premier Winde made it clear: “Given the serious nature of the finding of gross misconduct, I voted in favour of suspending him. This recommendation will now go to President Cyril Ramaphosa.”
This matter dates back to early 2008, when Hlophe was alleged to have approached two Constitutional Court Justices to try to convince them to make rulings in favour of then aspirant President, Jacob Zuma, in corruption cases in which he was implicated.
Subsequently, last year the Judicial Conduct Tribunal unanimously found Hlophe guilty of gross misconduct. Said the Premier: Hlophe tried in vain to challenge his conviction, needlessly further drawing out this debacle. In May this year, the Gauteng High Court – which heard his unsuccessful review application – ruled that the protracted litigation was “probably unique in the history of our judiciary”.