‘Apartheid judges must shut up’: Shivambu on calls for EFF members to be removed from JSC panel

EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu has weighed in on calls to remove party leader Julius Malema and advocate Dali Mpofu from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) panel interviews.

The JSC panel is this week interviewing four senior judges shortlisted for the position of chief justice. 

Shivambu said the calls, from former Constitutional Court judge and director of Freedom Under Law Johan Kriegler, were just “barks”.

“There’s no EFF member who will be removed from the judicial services commission,” he said.

“The hunting dogs of the white capitalist establishment are just barking and they know very well that the composition of the JSC is not decided by them and will not change.”

“He must get to the nearest lake and go jump. Apartheid judges must shut up. Our generation is not that sell-out generation that capitulated to everything dictated by settlers,” he added.

In a statement, Freedom Under Law argued that Malema and Mpofu were subject to serious ethical charges and therefore not fit to pass judgment.

“Mr Malema was recently found to have breached parliament’s code of ethical conduct,” said the organisation. 

It cited a judgment by the joint committee on ethics and members’ interests which found Malema asked an inappropriate question during an interview for judges concerning a matter in which he had a personal interest.

The organisation said Mpofu should not be participating in the proceedings due to investigations into his conduct when he told a colleague and her client to shut up during the state capture inquiry.

“The JSC has long applied the principle that a candidate facing a misconduct charge should not be considered for appointment. Yet the JSC permits two members against whom misconduct proceedings are ongoing to participate in this week’s proceedings,” it said.

“We respectfully suggest Mr Malema and Mr Mpofu should stand aside from service on the JSC as long as they are subject to these serious ethical charges. 

“Unless and until they successfully challenge the findings, they are not fit to pass judgment on the ethical and professional qualities of others,” it said.