Cape Town – Deputy President of the MK Party Dr John Hlophe says his resignation from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was a strategic decision to ensure the party’s representation.
Hlophe stepped down after the Western Cape High Court barred him from participating in interviews to fill Supreme Court of Appeal vacancies.
He said that his withdrawal was necessary to allow the MK Party, as an official opposition, to appoint a representative until his “political problems” were resolved.
[WATCH] MK Party deputy president Dr John Hlophe explains why he resigned from the Judicial Service Commission, saying it was a strategic move. The resignation followed an interdict against his participation in a sitting to interview candidates for judicial posts.#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/HYd9nwt06M
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) October 17, 2024
“I consider myself a member of the JSC. The reason why I decided to withdraw from the JSC was strategic. The party has a right to be represented. MK Party is an official opposition. So I’ve been gagged by this judiciary of Ramaphosa, meaning I cannot participate in the JSC and then the party suffers because the party is not represented.
“There is no provision in the construction for an alternate member. So the obvious thing for me to do was to withdraw so that the party would deploy somebody else in the JSC until my problems were cleared. I’m talking about political problems because there is nothing illegal,” he said.
“The constitution is very clear. I have a right to sit on the JSC. Here in Parliament I sit on the justice portfolio committee in Parliament.
“One of the things that the justice portfolio committee does is to recommend salary adjustments for judges so I can recommend their salaries and fix their salaries but I can’t interview them. So it’s a strange situation.”
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
