Sometimes during legal proceedings there is a single moment that cuts to the heart of the matter. At the judicial conduct tribunal of Western Cape judge president John Hlophe, that moment came on Friday in the form of a proposition by one of the three-person adjudicating panel.

Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judge Tati Makgoka asked Hlophe's counsel, Thabani Masuku SC, if he could test “one issue of judicial probity” with him: “At least at puisne [lower court] level, a judge who has heard a matter and has reserved judgment. is in a sacred space,” Makgoka said...