MK's Hlophe insists he has the right to sit on the JSC

CAPE TOWN - MK Party deputy president, John Hlophe, is digging in his heels that he has the right to sit on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Speaking publicly on the matter for the first time in Parliament on Thursday, Hlophe said there were only political and not legal impediments to him representing his party on the body.

The matter will return to the Western Cape High Court in November to challenge arguments from the Democratic Alliance (DA) and other non-governmental organisations that it would be improper for an impeached judge to take up a seat on a body that interviews candidate judges.

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In September, the court interdicted Hlophe from participating in the interviews held by the commission over the last two weeks.

The former judge president of the Western Cape High Court, Hlophe, said there were contradictions to attempts to remove him from the JSC when he sits on Parliament's justice committee.

"One of the things the justice portfolio committee does is to recommend salary adjustments for judges. So, I can recommend and fix their salaries but I can't interview them."

Hlophe has likened his situation to that of the late US Congressman, Alcee Hastings, who like Hlophe, became a politician after being impeached as a judge.

"In South Africa, when it suits a white man to look to other jurisdictions, to go to America and to go to the worst by way of comparison, they do that without hesitation. There’s no reason why that precedent was not followed."

Hlophe said the courts were ones of law, and not morals, except when it applied to him.