SUSPENDED JUDGE MPENDULO CHALLENGES CJ IN COURT AGAIN

MBABANE – Suspended Judge Mpendulo Simelane wants to know how his refusal to recuse himself from the SRA vs Ramodibedi case is different from the chief justice’s insistence to chair his impeachment.

Chief Justice (CJ) Bheki Maphalala refused to recuse himself from Judge Simelane’s impeachment hearing.
Judge Simelane, in his application to be furnished with written reasons for the CJ’s refusal to recuse himself, said Maphalala also refused to recuse himself from former Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi’s impeachment enquiry.

“....but he was never subjected to impeachment proceedings. I have a constitutional right to equality before the law and to equal protection of the law. The written reasons for the first respondent’s (chairman of JSC) refusal to recuse himself are necessary for the purpose of having an idea as to how my refusal to recuse myself is different from the first respondent’s,” said Judge Simelane.

The CJ is the chairman of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). Judge Simelane has filed an urgent application in the High Court for an order directing the JSC to forthwith furnish him with the judge’s notebook that was seized from him in January 2016.

He also wants to be given written reasons for the JSC’s refusal to uphold his application that the commission does not have authority to conduct the impeachment enquiry in the absence of proof of a referral from the King, as per the Constitution.
The judge further prays to be furnished with affidavits accompanying the aborted application for his (Simelane) recusal from the matter between Ramodibedi and SRA and a complete transcript of the proceedings of his impeachment.

Judge Simelane accused the JSC of violating his rights, as a judge of the High Court, in the impeachment.

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