Mbalula agrees with AfriForum and Zille: John Hlophe shouldn’t serve on the JSC

African National Congress secretary-general Fikile Mbalula asserts that impeached judge John Hlophe should not be on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Hlophe, who is the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party caucus leader in Parliament, was picked earlier this month to represent the National Assembly in the JSC. The JSC is a body that is tasked with interviewing judges and regulating their conduct.

MBALULA WEIGHS IN ON JOHN HLOPHE’S DESIGNATION TO JSC

The South African previously reported that lobby group AfriForum wants the Constitutional Court to declare that Hlophe’s appointment is irrational, unlawful, and in conflict with the NA’s constitutional duty.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said it is essential that they fight Hlophe’s appointment to the highest court because his presence in the JSC seriously undermines the credibility and independence of the judiciary while undermining the rule of law.

On Monday, the Democratic Alliance(DA) also filed court papers in the Western Cape High Court challenging Hlophe’s appointment.

DA federal chairperson Helen Zille said while they accept that it is the prerogative of political parties to nominate persons to serve on the JSC, it does not follow that a former judge, who was impeached for gross misconduct, can be designated by Parliament to serve on the body that found him guilty of this misconduct.

Zille said her party’s application is two-fold. In the first part, they seek to urgently interdict John Hlophe from taking up a seat in the JSC, pending the outcome of the second part, in which they seek to review and set aside the decision by the National Assembly to designate him as one of the parliamentary representatives to the JSC.

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Monday, Fikile Mbalula said he is not against Hlophe. However, it does not make sense that he sits on the JSC yet he was impeached for gross misconduct.

“It is wrong that you have been impeached and sit in the committee and ask judges about the wrongdoings you yourself have committed. How do you do that, because a political party you belong to has decided you must sit there and question others? It is morally bankrupt and incorrect,” Mbalula said.

Further, Mbalula said that morally, if he were in the party Hlophe belongs to, he would not have chosen that person [Hlophe], but given who Zuma is, he would do that.

Hlophe holds a PhD in Law from Cambridge University and is inarguably one of the most qualified MK Party MPs to serve on the JSC, other political parties said when he was nominated.