Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe risks becoming the first judge in democratic South African history to be removed from office since 1994.
This comes after the the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) ruled that he face impeachment for gross misconduct on account of attempting to influence the outcome of former president Jacob Zuma’s corruption charges in 2008.
In 2008, Justices Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta claimed that Hlophe had attempted to influence their rulings in favour of Zuma who was facing trial for corruption in the Thales matter, SABC News reports.
According to IOL, the JSC held a closed virtual hearing on Wednesday to deliberate on the future of the Judge president.
The JSC says it will provide reasons for its decision within the next 24 hours, and has also given Judge Hlophe and the Constitutional Court until September 3 to make submissions, News24 adds.
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