Impeached judge John Hlophe sworn in as MP vowing continued legal action
Hlophe, who has a PhD in law, told journalists that now that he is no longer a judge, he prefers to be addressed as Dr Hlophe
26 June 2024 - 08:51
by Andisiwe Makinana
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MK party MP John Hlophe. File picture: GALLO IMAGES
John Hlophe, the former Western Cape judge president who was impeached by parliament in February for gross misconduct, returned to the institution on Tuesday as parliamentary leader of the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party.
Hlophe was one of MK party’s 58 MPs who took their oath of office, 10 days after boycotting the first sitting of parliament in protest against what the party claims were election irregularities.
Other familiar faces who were sworn in include the ANC’s Zizi Kodwa, the former sports, arts and culture minister charged with corruption. Kodwa is out on R30,000 bail. He resigned from his cabinet position and stepped aside from party activities. On Tuesday, he referred questions about taking up his parliamentary seat while on “step-aside” to the ANC’s leadership.
From the MK party’s side, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the vocal daughter of former president Jacob Zuma; party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela and former EFF MP Andile Mngxitama were among the familiar faces that took the oath.
Afterwards, Hlophe whose surprise inclusion on the MK party’s candidates list emerged last week, said the party was still challenging the results of May’s general election, which gave it 15% of the seats in the National Assembly.
“The fact that we are participating should not be construed as an indication that we have abandoned the legal action,” he said. “We are convinced the elections were rigged. That is our case and the case has been taken to appropriate forums.”
Hlophe, who has a PhD in law, told journalists that now that he is no longer a judge, he preferred to be addressed as Dr Hlophe.
He said the MK party considered itself the official opposition in parliament because the DA was part of the government of national unity. The party will work “very closely” with other progressive parties in the opposition, such as the EFF and the ATM, he said.
Transformation will be at the heart of the party’s agenda in parliament, especially access to land for poor people.
“We have come here to work. We have been elected, we will do our best to stay above petty politics. We are not here to be petty. We have been elected by the people of this country, we consider that to be our role.”
He said the party would be robust in parliament while acting within the law and doing its best to stay above petty politics.
“We are not hooligans,” said Hlophe. “We stand for the issue of land in this country and we are not apologetic about that. We know the history of land in this country, how it was acquired, we are not apologetic about it.”
He said they were also not apologetic in their call for the law to be Africanised. “Africanising” the law meant land did not become a subject of private ownership, he said.
“By this, we mean we bring back the laws that used to govern the African people and one of those laws is the land in Africa can never be the subject of private ownership. The land belongs to the nation, it doesn’t form part of private ownership,” said Hlophe.
He said this was the case in the UK, where the land in England belongs to the queen and everybody else has a 99-year lease. This is similar to the EFF’s call, which was shot down by the ANC, for the state to be the custodian of all land in the republic.
Hlophe said they would work within the law to make this possible, and in raising other issues that pertain to transformation.
They, too, want section 25 of the constitution to be amended to explicitly provide for expropriation of land without compensation and for the state to own the land. Hlophe said 80% of the land was still in the hands of white people, which, he said, was not tenable.
There was also a need to transform key economic sectors such as mines and agriculture and that there hasn’t been much transformation in the past 30 years of democracy, he said.
“We will be canvassing in a civilised manner, within the law, to have the law changed. What is wrong with acting within the law to have a law [scrapped] which is unjust, which does not benefit the majority of the people of this country?
“We are going to engage in a very robust debate but in a respectful manner. But please make no mistake, we are not going to allow ourselves to be bullied by anyone. We know our rights, we are adults and we know why we are here. We are going to be polite and courteous to colleagues, but firm on the issues that we stand for.”
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Impeached judge John Hlophe sworn in as MP vowing continued legal action
Hlophe, who has a PhD in law, told journalists that now that he is no longer a judge, he prefers to be addressed as Dr Hlophe
John Hlophe, the former Western Cape judge president who was impeached by parliament in February for gross misconduct, returned to the institution on Tuesday as parliamentary leader of the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party.
Hlophe was one of MK party’s 58 MPs who took their oath of office, 10 days after boycotting the first sitting of parliament in protest against what the party claims were election irregularities.
Other familiar faces who were sworn in include the ANC’s Zizi Kodwa, the former sports, arts and culture minister charged with corruption. Kodwa is out on R30,000 bail. He resigned from his cabinet position and stepped aside from party activities. On Tuesday, he referred questions about taking up his parliamentary seat while on “step-aside” to the ANC’s leadership.
From the MK party’s side, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the vocal daughter of former president Jacob Zuma; party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela and former EFF MP Andile Mngxitama were among the familiar faces that took the oath.
Afterwards, Hlophe whose surprise inclusion on the MK party’s candidates list emerged last week, said the party was still challenging the results of May’s general election, which gave it 15% of the seats in the National Assembly.
“The fact that we are participating should not be construed as an indication that we have abandoned the legal action,” he said. “We are convinced the elections were rigged. That is our case and the case has been taken to appropriate forums.”
Hlophe, who has a PhD in law, told journalists that now that he is no longer a judge, he preferred to be addressed as Dr Hlophe.
He said the MK party considered itself the official opposition in parliament because the DA was part of the government of national unity. The party will work “very closely” with other progressive parties in the opposition, such as the EFF and the ATM, he said.
Transformation will be at the heart of the party’s agenda in parliament, especially access to land for poor people.
“We have come here to work. We have been elected, we will do our best to stay above petty politics. We are not here to be petty. We have been elected by the people of this country, we consider that to be our role.”
He said the party would be robust in parliament while acting within the law and doing its best to stay above petty politics.
“We are not hooligans,” said Hlophe. “We stand for the issue of land in this country and we are not apologetic about that. We know the history of land in this country, how it was acquired, we are not apologetic about it.”
He said they were also not apologetic in their call for the law to be Africanised. “Africanising” the law meant land did not become a subject of private ownership, he said.
“By this, we mean we bring back the laws that used to govern the African people and one of those laws is the land in Africa can never be the subject of private ownership. The land belongs to the nation, it doesn’t form part of private ownership,” said Hlophe.
He said this was the case in the UK, where the land in England belongs to the queen and everybody else has a 99-year lease. This is similar to the EFF’s call, which was shot down by the ANC, for the state to be the custodian of all land in the republic.
Hlophe said they would work within the law to make this possible, and in raising other issues that pertain to transformation.
They, too, want section 25 of the constitution to be amended to explicitly provide for expropriation of land without compensation and for the state to own the land. Hlophe said 80% of the land was still in the hands of white people, which, he said, was not tenable.
There was also a need to transform key economic sectors such as mines and agriculture and that there hasn’t been much transformation in the past 30 years of democracy, he said.
“We will be canvassing in a civilised manner, within the law, to have the law changed. What is wrong with acting within the law to have a law [scrapped] which is unjust, which does not benefit the majority of the people of this country?
“We are going to engage in a very robust debate but in a respectful manner. But please make no mistake, we are not going to allow ourselves to be bullied by anyone. We know our rights, we are adults and we know why we are here. We are going to be polite and courteous to colleagues, but firm on the issues that we stand for.”
TimesLIVE
EDITORIAL: The politics of vengeance
Hlophe, Mngxitama, Zuma-Sambudla, Des van Rooyen among 58 MK Party members sworn in as MPs
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