Judge not lest you be judged
Have you ever spent time reflecting on the careers you considered when you were younger? During grade school your preferred ‘job’ almost always had a public service leaning. Young boys wanted to be policeman, soldiers or firemen while girls would inevitab
The rock star complex
Today we’ve mostly settled into careers which offer a compromise between the public sector salary and the rock star’s lack of responsibility. Most FAnews Online readers are employed in the broader financial services industry. Some of us are in insurance, some in banking, some in public relations and some in journalism… We do our jobs and appreciate that should we neglect our duties we’ll have to face the music. In other words: “We accept accountability for our actions!” If only this were true for all employed South Africans. At the moment it seems the higher up the career ladder one goes, the less accountability one finds. It’s a phenomena best illustrated in the public sector.
In today’s article we comment on two very senior South African citizens who seem to have developed a bit of a ‘rock star’ complex. The first of these is Cape Judge-President John Hlophe. He rose to the position of Cape Judge-President approximately eight years ago and was soon under the spotlight for the all the wrong reasons. Apart from becoming embroiled in some bitter racially-tainted spats his first ‘test’ came early in 2005. Around March of that year he ruled in a matter involving Oasis Asset Management and Judge Siraj Desai. Oasis wanted to sue Judge Desai for defamation; a request which Judge Hlophe duly granted. It subsequently emerged that Judge Hlophe was receiving a retainer of R10 000 per month from Oasis.
The allegation was initially denied before being explained away as remuneration to compensate for ‘out-of-hand’ expenses Judge Hlophe had incurred as trustee on one of Oasis’ funds. He also claimed that then Justice Minister Dullah Omar had given him verbal permission to accept this ‘work’. More than two years after the incident the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) determined that Judge Hlophe had done nothing wrong and could continue in his position of Cape Judge-President – this despite many legal professionals baying for his impeachment.
The ‘third force’ in the South African judicial system
But things soon got worse. On 30 May 2008 the Constitutional Court (the highest court in the land) lodged a complaint with the JSC in which they alleged that Judge Hlophe had attempted to “improperly influence” certain Constitutional Court justices in matters involving ANC President Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thint. The JSC is convening this Friday to discuss the best course of action.
What do we make of this jurist who seems intent on repeatedly flouting his professional boundaries? Government constantly makes reference to a mysterious ‘third force’ whenever things get out of hand. In the difficult early years of democracy when the ANC and IFP fought running battles in many areas of KwaZulu-Natal the ‘third force’ was never far from mind. And during the recent outbreak of xenophobic violence many senior politicians (who should know better) hauled out the ancient ‘third force’ smokescreen. Perhaps this ‘third force’ can be blamed for Judge Hlophe’s current dilemma too.
Or perhaps, like Tony Leon, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on foreign affairs alleges, Judge Hlophe IS the ‘third force’… a man intent on bringing down South Africa’s judiciary from within.
Come again Mr President
And that brings us to the second ‘higher-up’ who cannot be held to account. President Thabo Mbeki is South Africa’s highest office bearer – the man who wields the whip (so to speak) over the cabinet ministers who are appointed to serve each and every one of the country’s citizens. Yet over the past seven years he has presided over a series of dismal performances and breaches in ethics and morality without taking stern action. Under his watch dozens of MPs partook in the TravelGate scandal without censure. His Health Minister has survived countless scandals and it took near divine intervention for National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi to be held to account. These are but a handful of examples of a landslide of accountability oversights.
The South African voting public is going to have to remind its elected politicians that the buck stops with them. Politicians (especially MPs) are paid good money to deliver a service to the people of this country. And if they fail in this task they’re going to have to stand up and accept the blame. But while the message from the top remains “do whatever you want; but if you cross the president beware” we won’t see much of an improvement.
Editor’s thoughts:
A high court judge should be a respected pillar of the community – someone who the country’s citizens can look up to – and someone whose behaviour is beyond reproach. We would hardly expect the behaviours mentioned in today’s column from a person in such a lofty position. How do you rate Judge Hlophe’s performance? Send your comments to gareth@fanews.co.za, or add them below.
