MK Party deputy president Dr John Hlophe has explained that his decision to resign from the Judicial Service Commission was a strategic move. The MK party's Parliamentary leader resigned from the JSC last week Monday, a few days after the Western Cape High Court interdicted him from participating in the JSC interviews to fill vacancies at the Supreme Court of Appeal.

HE SAID HE KNOW WHAT HE IS DOING

In a media briefing today, Hlophe said he resigned because uMkhonto Wesizwe needed a representative in the JSC. "The reason why I decided to withdraw from the JSC was strategic. The party has a right to be represented and the MK Party is an official opposition. I cannot participate in the JSC and then the party suffers because the party is not represented and there is no provision in the construction for an alternate member. So the obvious thing for me to do was to withdraw so that the party deployed somebody else in the JSC until my problems were cleared. I'm talking about political problems because there is nothing illegal," he said. Hlophe said he has a right to sit on the JSC as much as he sits on the justice portfolio committee in Parliament. "One of the things that the justice portfolio committee does is to recommend salary adjustments for judges so I can recommend their salaries and fix their salaries but I can't intervene," he said.

JUSTICE IN FAVOUR OF THE ELITE

Hlophe also touched on the Phala Phala matter saying the NPA's decision not to prosecute President Cyril Ramaphosa's proves that justice in South Africa is reserved for the elite. "The recent decision by the NPA not to prosecute President Cyril Ramaphosa over Phala Phala is a clear example of how justice in this country is reserved for the powerful, millions of Rands were found hidden on the premises yet he walked free without facing any consequences. This is a slap in the face of every African who demands accountability and justice. If this government truly cared about injustice it would ensure that no one not even the president is above the law but instead, we see them closing ranks protecting and letting corruption thrive while the people continue to struggle," he said.