The “domestic incident”, drawing in Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s wife, Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe, as well as Deputy Judge President, Patricia Goliath, lies at the heart of the “total collapse” of the relationship between Hlophe and Goliath and has affected other judges in the division as well.
It is for this reason that Judge Nambitha Dambuza has recommended to the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) establish a tribunal to consider the veracity of each woman’s version of events which led to the breakdown and the unseemly public unravelling.
The deterioration of the relationship between Hlophe and Goliath had also led to tension between judges, some of whom had been drawn into crossfire. These judges might still be subpoenaed to provide evidence, albeit, as some suggested, “confidentially”.