Issued by Daniela Ellerbeck on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 03/06/2025

The FW de Klerk Foundation welcomes the Cape Town High Court’s decision that Dr John Hlophe, MP is disqualified from serving on the Judicial Service Commission (“JSC”) – the body responsible for judicial appointments and disciplinary proceedings. “Dr Hlophe had resigned from the JSC last year, but this judgment reaffirms the seriousness with which Parliament must choose six of its members to serve on the JSC,” states Daniela Ellerbeck, an attorney and the FW de Klerk Foundation’s Constitutional Rights Programme Manager.

“The Foundation previously raised concerns over Dr Hlophe’s appointment to the Commission, given that he had been found guilty of gross misconduct by the very same body on which he was then appointed to serve. This finding had also led to his suspension by the President and subsequent removal as a judge by Parliament (i.e. impeached),” says Ellerbeck.

The Court found Parliament’s appointment of Dr Hlophe to the JSC unconstitutional and that Parliament had omitted to consider the gravity of the implications Dr Hlophe’s appointment held for the Commission’s institutional credibility and its constitutional mandate. “Appointing an individual found guilty of gross judicial misconduct that led to them being removed as a judge, to the very institution that found them guilty and oversees judicial discipline, undermines the integrity of the judiciary. Entrusting such a figure with a role where ethical standards must be paramount erodes public confidence and weakens the institution itself,” concludes Ellerbeck.