Disgraced judge John Hlophe will serve on JSC after GNU fails to come together

The 3 parties who support Hlope between them got about 2/3rds of the total vote. Two-thirds is a pretty convincing majority, but a majority seemingly unable to understand concepts such as morality, ethics, accountability and honesty. Maybe the latter are colonialist tendencies to them. They therefore see nothing wrong with former ministers who was recently arrested for corruption returning to parliament, or a disgraced judge sitting on a panel that elects other judges. The only question is: can the majority understand why this is wrong - do they have the mental ability to do so? - or don't they view misconduct, crime and corruption as morally wrong? Is this what Zuma means when he wants to replace the current laws with indigenous law?

So much for the ANC turning a new leaf.

I follow the Springboks,they got ethics,this countries goverment and politicians are a sick joke

So the former justice disguised as a parliamentarian will elect new justices on behalf of MK. I wonder what principles will guide him in his choices? Truth, honour and integrity I am sure. That is what his political masters will want. Or not?

WHY IS THE JOURNALIST USING WORDS SUCH AS BELLOWED AND YELLED WHEN REFERRING TOHENDRICKS. CLEARLY UNETHICAL, BIASED AND CONSISTANT WITH " HIRED GUN" TACTICS. THERE IS NO CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION TO DENY A PARTY ITS NOMINEE. AFTER ALL THE FAIRNESS OFTHE JSC IN THIS MATTER IS QUESTIONABLE.

Ominous clouds over the GNU with this decision. It appears the DA will be ignored in favour of the EFF and MK when it suits then rendering involvement in a GNU questionable. DA should return to the opposition benches before their integrity is compromised. At least Hlope would then not be leader of the opposition.

The one thing that the ANC, EFF and MK parties need for many, if not most, of their members to stay out of jail is a compliant justice system. Having ethically compromised and morally bankrupt judges is a necessity and compromised JSC is the means to achieve that. Pretty sure we will see Maumela, Mngqibisa, and Motala 'pardoned' and back soon!

And so it begins! We really don't have much to be optimistic about anyway. Just another nail in South Africa's coffin.

Ali Baba and the 40 thieves gathering again! Nothing will ever change!

The letter of the law(both the constitution and rules of parliament) is silent on the issue, the spirit(which will be rationality in this context) is clear in terms of case law. But that ship has long sailed as well, since both Dr Hlophe and Adv Mkhwebane were allowed to be lawmakers and serve in the very body (legislature) that impeached them. Until the constitution and the house rules are amended, I am afraid Dr Hlophe has been properly appointed to the JSC.

This has to be the most disgusting news presented to our land in a long time! I cannot find words to the sense of disgrace before us. The ANC claims to believe in the Rule of Law! Zuma wants the law to be changed so he can escape the Rule of Law. Hlope was a senior justice in the land, avowed to the constitution, wherein the Rule of Law is paramount, and was placed in a position of immense, immense, trust, all totally unfounded as it has, in all reality, now been shown. Violence has been a witnessed factor in his modus operandi, in the face of the Rule of Law, and now he has the power to influence the selection of the judiciary. Disgust grows by the minute, Oh My, how DISGRACEFUL!

Whatever happened to the concept of 'shame'?

This is a complete joke and makes a mockery of the system. After countless years and massive expense, justice is served as Hlope suspended and kicked out...only to be voted onto the very committee that found him guilty. The calibre and competency of politicians making these decisions and influencing our future is frankly quite scary.... it's sickening. We deserve what we tolerate.

The ANC failed its first test in the GNU. Its trying to ocnvince teh country that the portion of the ANC that is left, after departure of EFF and MK and others over the years, is the good part. But in fact it is just a smaller part of the same quality part as before.

Unbelievable that an individual who was stripped of his title as judge is now allowed to become a member of a committee which vets prospective judges.

Outnumbered and outgunned. The clown-show continues with its deathly spiral.

The absence of ethics, honesty and trust amongst ANC parlaimentarians boggles the mind. One despairs for what lies ahead.

While this does not come as a surprise, it is not an encouraging start to the working of the GNU. There is no logical way in the world and any rational person could support Hlope as a representative of the street-sweepers association, let alone the JSC. Well done ANC, for having given yet another reason to have been reduced to 40% support. Disgustingly craven and cowardly behaviour - Hlope should not be in parliament, and neither should Mkwebane

There's a clear tendency with ANC, EFF & MK politicians to place a ludicrous amount of importance on titles, qualifications (real and imaginary) and the pomp and ceremony associated with elected positions of power. Not a word about any calling to public service or character, integrity or even honesty. PhD in Law from Cambridge you say? Then he must be a supreme leader, a superstar even.

DM's story line: “truth is stranger than fiction” is so true. Again, I have to shake my head and just walk away. I'm not a legal eagle, but it has become clear over the past couple of years that the Legal council in SA, who I believed was independent from politics and for up holding the constitution, has been hijacked.

Are we progressing or retrogreessing as country? Here we are again, having public representatives who are ethically bankrupt. Cry beloved country!

What a sad joke and a waste of democracy we are.

Cry the beloved country. Will any politician, government official, taxpayer employee!!! have the gumption to stand up and say it. No, too busy at the trough. Please prove me wrong - with ethical, moral, just boring, old, good and honest appointees.

Why wasn't my comment posted. After 37 years experience as an attorney in Cape Town. I wrote a detailed comment with no swear words, etc. Please don't post this, but email me and tell me what was wrong with it. It was by far the most helpful comment on the article. It makes me want to resign as an insider.

Dr. Hlophe is a Member of Parliament and therefore qualifies to serve on Parliament's committees. Those who oppose this seek to undermine the Constitution and the law, despite claiming to uphold these principles. This is a clear example of double standards.

Nauseating to see how these disgraceful parties violate every rule of decency and civility. Makes one ashamed to be South African!

Judge John Hlophe was emplpyed/appointed/hired/signed on by the JSC. JH was fired by Parliament and not the NA, the body that appointed the JSC (which functions under the Justice Committee). However, the appointment of judges is the prerogative of the country's president, according to the Constitution. The judge was impeached by Parliament and this was politically motivated, according to his statement after impeachment, because he said he was sympathetic to the President of the 6th Administration. Currently the judge is a member of the NA and has been deployed by his political party, the MK, to serve in the Justice Committee. It must be noted that he is not employed by parliament to serve in the JC, but his party has deployed him after the democratic processes of electorates have been concluded. This means that voters, and not parliament, has sent Dr Hlophe to represent them! Similarly, Advocate Mkhwebane was also umpeached by parliament. As stated above, it follows that both politicians' impeachments were politically motivated during their services as government employees, and that's why tgey decided to come back as Lawmakers! People's comments are mostly based on ethics, trust, honesty etc, unfortunately the very Constitution that's gonna allow Dr Hlophe to serve as a Commissioner in that Committee is silent on the matter. Others are throwing around obsenities that obviously degrade their comments. In conclusion, Judge Hlophe and Advocate Mkhwebane have been sent by voters to represent the voters' needs, hence the deployment by their respective parties, and finally parliament under the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Indeed those who are speaking against it despite claiming to uphold the principles of the very constitution will be in violation of the law. And indeed, there won't be any constitutional amendments and to the parliamentary regulations because people are always ready to play double standards once the law is unfavourable to them! Society has been complaining about the "Captured Judiciary" for ages, therefore, let's engage the services of fresh blood and closely observe its progress!

“Fools multiply when wise men are silent.” Madiba said that…

“Fools multiply when wise men are silent.” Madiba said that…

we need to understand parliament laws that allow people who have been sanctioned and impeached from other positions of responsibility to serve in parliament it seems to be a loophole that needs to be addressed, strangely, articles like this don't explore that.

This is disgraceful. So much for all the fine words about good governance for the benefit of the people!

It remains a mystery why the illegal swearing in of Hlope remains unchallenged. The risk exists of overcompromising for the sake of GNU functionality, which may completely undermine the GNU. Catch 22.

If anyone thought the new Gnu was going to be any different they must be rethinking.....sane circus different clowns dirty big tent. ANC are the corrupt amoral dishonest ringmaster in charge. No difference!

Wow, what a smooth maneuvre! An excellent strategy to paralyze and poison the pesky judiciary that keeps exposing the gangsterism so deeply entrenched in the ruling party. At last the mafia can operate with even more impunity.

….and here we were thinking CR had grown a pair with the formation of the GNU! How wrong we were to imagine things would change for the better!

Well this shows the ANC's true colours. They vote for corruption so nothing has changed

Hlope is one person on the JSC, he cannot determine its decisions. The rest of JSC (and the media) should just ignore him, as in literally do not respond when he inevitably rants.

To allow impeached former Judge Hlophe and impeached former public protector Mkhwebane to serve on the JSC is a disastrous decision and makes us look like a laughing stock to the rest of the world. This creates the most serious doubts as to whether there can be any positive benefit or realistic hope for positive change from the GNU. As they say, a Leopard doesn’t change its spots…

African countries fail because their leaders put selfish short-term gains over long-term integrity. Then, those same leaders use racism and xenophobia and point the blame at other governments when things get worse. This is how you end up with places like Angola, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, where they turn the state's power against its own people in Apartheid-style tactics. Eventually, they collapse into coups, as we're seeing again across the Sahel. If you support Hlope's appointment, you support selfish interest over national integrity. You support the oppression of Africa's people and the eventual return of Apartheid-style governments.

The nature of all politics, and most certainly of the RSA, is always one of selective morality. Nothing has changed, I most certainly didn't expect it to.

I don't think we have to look any further than the general ethos of this MK political garbage can. They are a violent, anti-social, anti-constitutional, ignorant, abscess in our political environment. Under the leadership of Zumatela they will do their utmost to bring about the destruction of what social and political order we have left in our country. The likes of Hlophe and Mkhwebane (of the EFF ...equally repugnant) on the JSC is a sad reflection on how we South African manage our democracy. What is legal and what is right are not always the same. These two miscreants should not be anywhere near the JSC let alone in Parliament.

That there is no rational basis for this appointment must be self-evident, even to the most hard of thinking. What transpired, however, is another symptom of the disturbing trend of racial divisions being successfully fomented. MK and the EFF have unambiguously come out as parties that embrace racism. It is concerning that they have apparently managed to take many ANC representatives with them, notwithstanding that non-racialism is supposedly a core principle of the ANC.

For those eager to engage in moral grandstanding, give us a break. How's this for morals: Wouter Basson has been employed as a cardiologist at not one, but at least two Mediclinic facilities in the Western Cape (source: News24). For those unfamiliar with him, do yourself a favor and check out documentaries on 'Project Coast.' How many of us black people have boasted about the class status we feel after being treated at a Mediclinic facility? With an establishment that hires such individuals, Basson never lost income. He's their hero. So, why should Hlophe lose his income for morals? What morals, exactly?

The sooner the electorate gets to vote for an actual person and not some political appointee, the better. We are being run (governed??) and ordered around by a coterie of, in the main, the political chommies and miscreants of a very small group of political misfits most of whom could never get or hold down a real job in the real world.

It’s a disgrace that he should even be considered. Makes a mockery of the judicial process. How can the public have faith in the judiciary or the new government when once again there is reward instead of punishment for those who flout the law? The whole situation is ludicrous!

Stupidity continues to rule, regardless of what voters countrywide requested.