Langa serving political forces - Hlophe
In an astonishing attack on outgoing Chief Justice Pius Langa, Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe alleges Langa was serving 'other political forces' when he decided to publish allegations that Hlophe had tried to influence two Constitutional Court judges in a matter involving President Zuma. In a compelling interview with the Mail & Guardian, Hlope claims Zuma's legal woes split the legal profession, including judges, right down the middle and his (Hlophe's) sin was to side with the ANC president.
'You will recall that (at the recent JSC hearings in Johannesburg) I never retracted the statement that I believed Zuma was innocent,' Hlophe told the paper. He added that a political conspiracy led by Langa and his deputy, Dikgang Moseneke, took shape the moment he made it clear that his colours were firmly nailed to the Zuma mast. On the nomination of Sandile Ngcobo as the next Chief Justice, Hlophe said that although it was Zuma's prerogative to appoint the next Chief Justice, he believed that the appointment of Ngcobo as a 'stop-gap' Chief Justice would give 'his (Zuma's) enemies a chance to regroup'. Hlophe is quoted as saying that after the Johannesburg hearings he flatly refused to shake Langa's hand, adding: 'I am not going to shake a white man's hand.' On Langa's decision to publish allegations that he had attempted to 'improperly influence' Judges Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta, he said: 'It was not his (Langa's) agenda.' The Chief Justice was serving other political forces. 'The old man should have stayed out of it and waited to retire,' Hlophe said. This was why he would not concede when the JSC panel asked him if he might have been 'incorrect' in his view that Langa and Moseneke had waged a political campaign against him. 'I will not concede on that until I die,' he told the M&G.
Full Mail & Guardian interview
Meanwhile, the Justice for Hlophe Alliance is to focus its energies on pushing for another Constitutional Court position for Hlophe (after the nomination of Ngcobo as Chief Justice), according to a report on the IoL site. 'Although we would have preferred Justice Hlophe to succeed Pius Langa as a true agent for change and transformation in the judiciary, the President has spoken,' said the alliance's Percy Gumbi. The alliance did not believe Zuma had acted in a 'cowardly' manner in nominating Ngcobo while Hlophe dealt with a JSC complaint against him. 'We are gracious in defeat and we will live to fight another day when we hope to still catapult Justice Hlophe to the position of Chief Justice in years to come. There is still an option of pushing for Hlophe to secure one of two positions (that of deputy Chief Justice and/or Constitutional Court judge).'
Full report on the IoL site