By Palesa Matlala
• Former presidents Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki want Justice Sisi Khampepe removed as chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Cases Inquiry.
• Zuma and Mbeki approached the Constitutional Court after the High Court dismissed their case because they had not obtained the Chief Justice’s consent.
Former presidents Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki have taken their fight to remove Justice Sisi Khampepe from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Cases Inquiry to the Constitutional Court.
The country’s highest court is expected to rule on their applications after the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg dismissed their earlier attempt.
Zuma and Mbeki want direct access to the Constitutional Court and permission to appeal the High Court decision.
They argue that Khampepe’s previous roles on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Amnesty Committee and as Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions create a conflict of interest and a reasonable fear that she could be biased.
But the High Court did not rule on those claims.
In its judgment handed down electronically on 30 March, the court found that Zuma and Mbeki should first have obtained consent from Chief Justice Mandisa Maya before starting civil proceedings against Khampepe.
“The proceedings are void ab initio. As they were a nullity from the start, this Court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain them,” the judgment said.
The court said it was therefore not necessary to consider the other grounds raised by Zuma and Mbeki.
Their lawyer, Advocate Dali Mpofu, told the Constitutional Court that the dispute centres on how the law should be interpreted.
“The main issues that we raise on interpretation come from the text of the section itself,” Mpofu said.
He said one issue was the meaning of “judge” or “judge of a superior court”. Another was whether the type of proceedings brought by Zuma and Mbeki fell under the meaning of “civil proceedings”.
Mpofu argued that the case was similar to normal recusal proceedings, where a judge would not usually need to be cited.
“Secondly, that judge could not escape or be insulated from scrutiny against bias,” he said.
The High Court had also criticised Zuma and Mbeki over what it called “direct attacks” on Khampepe’s character and integrity.
It warned of the risk of powerful people taking legal action against judges without first obtaining the required consent.
The Constitutional Court must now decide whether Zuma and Mbeki can take their challenge further.
Pictured above: Justice Sisi Khampepe, chairperson of the TRC Cases Inquiry.
Image source: File.
