President Cyril Ramaphosa removes Judge President Hlophe from office

President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent a letter to Judge John Mandlakayise Hlophe of the Western Cape High Court division, to formally inform him of his “immediate removal from office”.

According to a letter dated March 5 and signed by Ronald Lamola, the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ramaphosa’s decision to dismiss Judge Hlophe was recorded and signed in Bela-Bela on March 1.

Lamola’s letter to Hlophe read, “I write to inform you that pursuant to the Judicial Service Commission’s finding that you are guilty of gross misconduct; and a resolution adopted by the National Assembly with a supporting vote of more than two-thirds of its members calling for your removal from office, President Ramaphosa has decided, in terms of section 177(2) of the Constitution, to remove you from office with immediate effect. A copy of the President’s Minute is attached for your ease of reference”.

Hlophe’s removal comes after his impeachment last week, when the National Assembly voted 27 times in favour of Hlophe’s removal out of 305 parliamentarians, including members of the DA and ANC.

This came after Hlophe was found guilty of gross misconduct by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in 2008. At that time, Hlophe was accused of attempting to inappropriately influence Constitutional Court Justices Chris Jafta and Bess Nkabinde to rule in favour of specific litigants.

According to Section 177 of the Constitution, a judge may be removed from office if the JSC finds that they are incapable, incompetent, or guilty of gross misconduct.

Lamola’s spokesperson Chrispin Phiri confirmed that Hlophe will forfeit his benefits and pension.

Before his demise, Hlophe insisted throughout several processes that he was innocent despite all the accusations made against him.

He made racism reports and stated that racism existed in the country and in the legal profession, though most people wouldn’t  believe it. Despite several judges’ attempts to convince him to withdraw this report, he claimed that he would not withdraw it because he is certain of its validity.