The Democratic Party (DA) has said that the appointment of MK party’s Chief Whip Dr John Hlophe to serve on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) undermines the independence on the Judiciary of South Africa.
In a statement, DA’s spokesperson on Justice and Constitutional Development, Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach said her party together with the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and the African Christian Democratic Development Party (ACDP) have recorded their objections to the designation of Hlophe.
Hlophe was amongst the 58 MK party members who were sworn in Parliament 10 days after boycotting the first sitting.
The civil society organisations are also against Hlophe’s nomination.
Meanwhile, the move has been supported by the African National Congress (ANC) which has formed the Government of National Unity with the DA and other parties as it failed to garner more votes to lead with outright marjority.
ANC’s Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli said while the rules still stand that political parties may elect the JSC representatives, there could be no deviation from the convention.
Hlophe was impeached by the Judicial Conduct Tribunal in April 2021 after he was foud guilty of gross misconduct.
The DA said it would be irrational for Parliament to have an impeached Judge to represent the JSC while accusing the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the MK party of tearing down the independent Judiciary.
The DA added that while it is the prerogative of the political parties to nominate the presons to serve on the JSC, “it cannot stand that a person is allowed to serve body that found him guilty of gross misconduct while he was a judge, resulting in his impeachment”.
Other members to serve with Hlophe are ActionSA parliament leader Athol Trollip, EFF leader Julius Malema, Molapi Lekganyane and Fasiha Hassan from the ANC and DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach.