Impeached judge Hlophe to be MK Party's Parliamentary leader

CAPE TOWN - The MK Party says impeached high court judge president John Hlophe will in fact be the party’s parliamentary leader, and not its chief whip as per an internal memo circulated on Thursday night.

It has been just three months since President Cyril Ramaphosa affirmed Hlophe’s removal from the bench after a parliamentary impeachment process.

The MK Party said that it expects Hlophe to be sworn in next week, but Parliament said it’s not yet in a position to confirm this.

With the MK party not part of the Government of National Unity, Hlophe could become the main opposition leader in Parliament. 

Although he did not appear on the party’s candidate lists ahead of elections, party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said Hlophe will take up one of several vacancies left by expelled members.

“We’ve communicated with the parliamentary secretary and such is the case, judge John Hlophe is going to be party leader [in Parliament].”

If Hlophe gets the thumbs up, the 65-year-old former judge will be the second Member of Parliament (MP) after the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)’s Busisiwe Mkhwebane to become a politician after being impeached by Parliament. 

“He’s an ordinary citizen and so he’s going to represent us in Parliament. What’s wrong with that? We can deploy whoever we want. We won’t be told by anyone who we should deploy.”

Last week, the party boycotted the swearing-in of new members but they will have to pitch soon if they are going to benefit from parliamentary funding.

Parliament said that it will make an announcement at an appropriate time regarding new members who still have to take their oath.