John Hlophe reading his oath during the swearing in as a member of Parliament on 25 June 2024. Image: MK Party (@MkhontoweSizwex) via X (Twitter)
John Hlophe reading his oath during the swearing in as a member of Parliament on 25 June 2024. Image: MK Party (@MkhontoweSizwex) via X (Twitter)
Former-judge-turned-politician John Hlophe has praised former president Jacob Zuma for his depth of knowledge, calling Zuma a “genius”.
Hlophe, who was sworn in as member of Parliament (MP) on Tuesday, spoke to SABC News journalist Bulelani Phillip after taking his oath in Cape Town.
Asked by Phillips whether he admired Zuma, Hlophe responded in the affirmative, adding: “He’s a genius. The man has no formal education at all. You only have to sit with him and engage him… you will realise the depth of knowledge.
“The man [Zuma] joined the ANC in 1959, that’s 65 years back. He joined the ANC when I was born.”
Hlophe was announced as parliamentary leader of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party last Friday, while Zuma remains the party’s overall leader. And during the chat with Phillip, Hlophe made it a point to highlight that Zuma leads the party wholly.
“[Former] president Zuma is still the president of the [MK] party. I don’t want people to get between us and say ‘Zuma said this in a rally and Hlophe said that’.
“I said to president Zuma a couple of days ago, and I visited him at his home in Nkandla… and I’m not hiding that. I go to Nkandla whenever I want to. I said to him: ‘It is very important for us [Hlophe and Zuma] to be seen together in public rallies, so that there’s no divided leadership – MK in Parliament and MK outside Parliament’,” Hlophe said.
Zuma’s ‘relationship’ with Hlophe
This allegiance and admiration of Zuma raises a few questions. When did it start? What was the nature of their relationship while he was a sitting judge?
In an interview with eNCA in December 2023 – before he became the first judge to be impeached in South Africa and later removed as Western Cape judge president by President Cyril Ramaphosa – journalist Annika Larsen asked Hlophe if he had any relationship with Zuma.
“No, I don’t have any relationship with former president Zuma but I’ve stated publicly that I have met him. I have a son, my first born’s name is Thuthuka… he was friends with Zuma’s children. That’s how I met the former president.
“Our relationship started there and it ended there. The only other time I had met the president, it was at Tuynhuys [South African president’s office in Cape Town]. He was already the president [of SA]. I had gone there to officiate a swearing-in of a minister of something.
“I have had absolutely no friendship. We are not family friends. I don’t visit him. He has never come here [Hlophe’s residence in Cape Town] – I have never been to his place [Nkandla].
“We are not friends,” Hlophe ended.
Zuma’s ‘friendship’ with ex-judge president leads to trouble
Larsen’s question about a John Hlophe-Jacob Zuma relationship emanated from Hlophe being accused in 2008 by then-justices of the Constitutional Court (ConCourt), Chris Jafta and Bess Nkabinde, of trying to influence them over a case involving then-ANC deputy president Zuma, which was before the ConCourt for consideration.
Eleven ConCourt justices lodged a complaint after Jafta and Nkabinde complained that Hlophe “had visited them separately in their chambers to discuss pending judgments” involving corruption cases against Zuma, reported TimesLIVE.
They complained that he had improperly attempted to influence the outcome of an Arms Deal-related matter in favour of Zuma.
Fast forward to April 2021, when “a tribunal inquiry found Hlophe guilty of gross misconduct, a decision upheld by the Judicial Service Commission [without the parliamentarians] in August 2021”, reports Judges Matter.
This would eventually lead to Hlophe’s impeachment in February 2024.
