Yahya John Mandlakayise Hlophe (born 1 January 1959 in Stanger, KwaZulu-Natal) is Judge President of the Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa.
Background and career
Born in Stanger, Natal, he was educated at the University of Natal; the University of Fort Hare and Cambridge University. Hlophe taught law at the University of Transkei, South Africa, before being appointed in 1995, aged 36, to sit as the first black judge in the High Court in Cape Town. He was the first full-time academic to be appointed as a High Court Judge. He was appointed to head the court in 2000.
Controversies
In a 2004 case between Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and elements of the pharmaceutical industry, Hlophe was accused of "unreasonably" delaying his judgement on leave to appeal. In an unprecedented step the unsuccessful party in the matter had been forced by Hlophe's failure to either grant or refuse leave to appeal and had applied directly to the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa for leave to appeal. Having been informed that the application would be made directly to the Supreme Court of Appeal, he refused leave to appeal days before the Supreme Court of Appeal considered the matter. His ruling was summarily overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeal in a judgment that was harshly critical of him. Hlophe was reported to have said with regard to the ruling that he "... couldn’t care less." A complaint about his conduct was laid with the Judicial Service Commission. In 2004 Hlophe wrote a report to Chief Justice Pius Langa alleging racism at the Cape Bar. He also accused his deputy, Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso, of racism. In the aftermath of controversy as to the authorship of a majority judgment in the name of Judge NJ Yekiso in the same matter that had attracted the Supreme Court of Appeal's censure, Hlophe accused certain white judges and leading members of the Cape Bar of racism in a 43-page report submitted to the Minister of Justice in November 2004. In 2005 Hlophe was reported to have said that he allocated an Afrikaans language rights case to senior Cape High Court Judge Wilfred Thring "because I knew he would fuck up the trial and then it could be set right on appeal". He was reported to have repeated this in front of numerous witnesses, including senior advocate Norman Arendse SC, who wrote to Chief Justice Pius Langa about the incident. Denying he had made the remark, Hlophe claimed there was a smear campaign against him. Also in 2005, Hlophe was reported to have called a Cape Town attorney, Joshua Greeff, a "piece of white shit who is not fit to walk in the corridors of the High Court". He also suggested that Greeff should go back to Holland. Greeff is not Dutch. Hlophe denied making the remarks. In June 2006, the JSC was asked to investigate complaints that Hlophe's son received a bursary from a large Cape Town firm of attorneys, Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes (STBB). Derek Wille, former STBB partner and a university friend of Hlophe, said the payments had come from a bursary scheme "to help disadvantaged students". Hlophe had appointed Wille to the bench as an acting judge on a number of occasions. Reported to the JSC for a possible conflict of interests, he claimed he did not know who was paying for his son's education. The JSC accepted his word. In early 2006 it was reported that Hlophe had, without the necessary Ministerial consent, taken a remunerated position on the board of Oasis, an asset management company. It was subsequently reported that Hlophe had, whilst on the Oasis payroll, considered a matter involving one of his colleagues, Judge Siraj Desai and given Oasis permission to sue him. In July 2006 Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla permitted Hlophe four months' leave of absence. In November 2007 Hlophe was reported to have written to the Department of Justice demanding that his official motor vehicle, a three-year-old Mercedes Benz, be upgraded to a Porsche Cayenne. He argued that his position as Judge President warranted this upgrade. When contacted by members of the press, Hlophe is reported to have asked "What has this got to do with you? My purchase of a vehicle has got absolutely nothing to do with you," It is reported that when reminded that the car would be purchased using taxpayers' money, he stated that it would "never, ever be approved". It nonetheless was. On 10 March 2008, Judge Hlophe, in a Cape High Court ruling, ordered the eviction of approximately 20,000 shack dwellers residing in Joe Slovo in Langa to make way for the controversial N2 Gateway Housing Project.