Hlophe tribunal back on track

A TRIBUNAL appointed to probe allegations of impeachable conduct against Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe will hold a pre-trial meeting tomorrow - five years after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was forced to deal with South Africa's most controversial judge.

The judicial conduct tribunal, appointed on the instruction of Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, is resuming a stalled probe into allegations that Judge Hlophe tried to influence two Constitutional Court justices to rule in favour of President Jacob Zuma in a case related to the arms deal.

Judge Hlophe's lawyer, Barnabas Xulu, said this week that the tribunal's meeting on Monday in Johannesburg would "primarily deal with [Judge Hlophe's] unpaid legal bills".

Xulu, from the law firm Xulu Liversage, has reported the director-general of the Department of Justice, Nonkululeko Sindane, to the Public Service Commission for, he said, deleting and ignoring e-mails asking the department to pay Judge Hlophe's outstanding legal fees of almost R2.5-million.

The tribunal is due to sit in June. If he is found guilty, Judge Hlophe could be impeached.

Constitutional Court justices issued a statement on May 30 2008 to the effect that Judge Hlophe had approached Justice Bess Nkabinde and Justice Chris Jafta and tried to improperly influence them to find in favour of Zuma, who was facing serious allegations that French weapons manufacturer Thint Holdings had paid him money.

Judge Hlophe's troubles with the law began seven years ago when it emerged that he was paid monthly retainer fees by a company to which he later gave permission to sue fellow Judge Siraj Desai.

Judge Hlophe said he had permission from the late justice minister, Dullah Omar, to be paid a retainer.

Then came the 2008 complaint by the justices of the Constitutional Court.

In response, Judge Hlophe first claimed that the Constitutional Court justices had infringed his rights and dignity by making their complaint public. Then he was sick; then placed on special long leave; then the chief justice changed. Then Judge Hlophe was again on special leave; then JSC legislation changed and Judge Hlophe's lawyer said the judge could not be tried retrospectively under new legislation.

In 2009, when the JSC decided to close the case without hearing evidence, the legal advocacy group Freedom Under Law, under the chairmanship of retired Justice Johann Kriegler, applied to court to have this decision set aside - a case that ended up with the Supreme Court of Appeal, which ruled against the JSC.

Wim Trengove, advocate for Freedom Under Law, had argued that the JSC's refusal to investigate Judge Hlophe was a "cynical abandonment of its duty to safeguard the integrity of the judiciary".

Judge Hlophe has previously torn the legal fraternity across South Africa apart along racial lines, often accusing detractors of being racist or opposed to the transformation of the judiciary.

The judicial conduct tribunal is composed of retired Judge Joop Labuschagne - who was the judge in the Donovan Moodley-Leigh Matthews murder trial - as tribunal president, Judge Bonisile Sandi of the High Court in the Eastern Cape and lawyer Nishani Pather from Gauteng.

The tribunal had its first taste of the difficult task ahead when Xulu raised objections about the inclusion of lawyer Nxolo Maduba as the third member on the panel.

Xulu referred questions about Maduba's replacement on the panel to the JSC.

Maduba - who told the Sunday Times she had "excused herself from the panel for personal reasons" - was replaced on the panel by Pather.

Dumisa Ntsebeza, a spokesman for the JSC, said: "An issue was raised with the chief justice which the chief justice brought to the attention of Ms Maduba ... Ms Maduba then decided that it was in the best interest of the tribunal for her to step aside." Ntsebeza refused to say what the issue was.

Pather, the wife of Ronnie Pather, head of the disciplinary section in the National Prosecuting Authority, is overseas and could not be reached for comment.