[ad_1]
Presiding Judge John Hlophe.
- According to the complaint, the gist of it comes after Chief Justice John Hlophe and Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe had engaged in conduct that compromised the proper functioning and integrity of the court.
- It comes after Presiding Judge Patricia Goliath filed a felony complaint against the Presiding Judge and his wife.
- The complaint describes a strained working relationship between the presiding judge and other judges.
Internal disputes within the Western Cape Superior Court have taken a new turn when the Committee on Judicial Conduct recommended that a court investigate the allegations made by Vice President of Justice Patricia Goliath about Chief Justice John Hlophe and his wife.
This comes after Goliath filed a serious misconduct complaint against Hlophe and his wife, Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe.
The committee recommended that the allegations made about Goliath in statements to the media, along with allegations that he attempted to influence Salie-Hlophe into bringing false criminal charges against Hlope; encouraged Salie-Hlophe to divorce Hlophe; and referred to Hlophe as an “old black man”, being investigated by a court.
“If in fact the DJP made the alleged statements, particularly the act of urging Judge Salie-Hlophe to bring false criminal charges against the JP, it seems to me that prima facie that would be a serious challengeable offense.
“Similarly, if Judge Salie-Hlophe falsely accused the DJP of saying these things, [t]This would also be a serious challengeable offense. Therefore, these aspects of the complaint must be investigated by a court, “the JCC said in a recommendation on Friday.
According to the complaint, the essence of it refers to the fact that Hlophe and Salie-Hlophe engaged in conduct that compromised the proper functioning and integrity of the court.
FRIDAY REPORT | Karyn Maughan | How the chairman of the WC judge has dealt with 10 major scandals, without any sanction
In a scathing complaint filed by Goliath, he described the judges as fearing Salie-Hlophe.
“The allegations were that she had assumed ‘enormous power’ in the division, resulting in some of the judges fearing her and unwilling to openly raise any issues related to her; that she was (improperly) participating in the court management, assignment of cases and appointment of sitting judges; that he chose which judges he would sit with on appeals, and that his (unwarranted) complaints about certain judges to the presiding judge had led to strained relations between the judge president and the judges in question and the aggression referred to in the previous paragraph ”, says the complaint.
He also claimed that Salie-Hlophe had expressed a wish not to sit down with some judges, which resulted in a strained relationship between the judges.
complaint extract
supplied
READ | The Judicial Conduct Committee recommends that a court investigate complaints against the Western Cape judge
The complaint indicated that Salie-Hlophe received preferential treatment. Some judges complained that she was assigned fewer appeals on Fridays than they were.
Furthermore, it is alleged that Salie-Hlophe worked irregular hours and sometimes took Fridays and Mondays off with impunity.
In response to the complaint, Salie-Hlophe denied all allegations of her involvement in the administration of the court, including assigning cases to judges.
“The accusations that describe her as a beneficiary of the [Judge President’s] preferential treatment (eg receiving less work and taking days off) were strongly rejected by both Judge Salie-Hlophe and JP, and the JP stated that Judge Salie-Hlophe always performed assigned work.
“According to him, reading from home was a practice that other judges also enjoyed, and as long as the judges did their job, it was not necessary to monitor the hours spent at their workplace,” the reply said.
The complaint against Salie-Hlophe was dismissed by the committee.
Did you know that you can comment on this article? Subscribe to News24 and add your voice to the conversation.
