Hlophe gives judges his side of racism row

And although he left the meeting of the country\'s heads of courts immediately afterwards, apparently thumping the door shut behind him, Chief Justice Pius Langa denied that he had stormed out. ‘We excused him from the meeting,’ Langa said at the end of the 10 hour meeting, according to a report on the News24 site. ‘We were going to be discussing him. He realised that we were going to be discussing his issue and he felt it was only right that he should not be in the room when we do that.’ Hlophe faces allegations that he called a white lawyer a ‘piece of white s..t’ and that he allocated the Mikro school case to a white judge because he believed the judge would ‘f..k it up’. Langa said Hlophe had given the meeting a statement of his version of the events, but ‘we did not finish the inquiry because we had to get the other side’. Full report on the News24 site

Hlophe has received the unqualified backing of several fellow judges who said they believed there was a campaign by ‘unknown forces’ to impede the judiciary\'s transformation, says a Weekend Argus report. The judges made it clear they were not commenting on the merits of the dispute that has pitted at least two senior counsel against Judge Hlophe in an already racially polarised Bench and legal profession in the Cape. Judge Desai\'s statement, signed by at least 13 judges, was not endorsed in full by Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso. Judge Traverso said she had ‘reservations’ about the conclusions of the Desai statement, but that she supported the view that ‘attacks in the media on the office and the integrity of Judge President Hlophe do not serve the administration of justice, the judiciary or our democracy’. Signatories included Dumisa Ntsebeza – an acting judge who before his appointment was Western Cape Black Lawyers\' Association chairperson – and Judge Dennis Davis. However, at least two others, Judges Shenaaz Meer and Abdul Motala, had declined to sign the statement, Judge Desai said. Full Cape Argus report

The DA has called on the Chief Justice to do his utmost to preserve and protect the integrity and independence of the judiciary. This was part of the resolutions taken at the DA Federal Council meeting in Durban yesterday, says and SABC News report. The DA made the point that the judiciary has been criticised for lacking transformation, especially by those leading the support campaigns for Jacob Zuma. ‘The DA strongly believes that the cries of an anti-transformation conspiracy are intended to make it almost impossible for any misconduct by judges to be investigated. We are however confident and hopeful that the Chief Justice and the Judicial Services Commission will resist these calls and do their job,’ Leon said. Full SABC News report

Meanwhile, a report on racism and sexism in the judiciary has been completed, according to Justice Minister Bridgette Mabandla. She was speaking after a three-hour meeting with the country\'s heads of courts, says a report on the News24 site. She said she routinely met the heads of courts ahead of sittings of the Judicial Services Commission, which gathers in the city today. ‘I was receiving reports back. One of them is the racism and sexism report. I\'m told it\'s ready,’ said Mabandla. She said the heads of court would decide when to make it available. The Chief Justice said it would be released in about a week. Full report on the News24