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‘Silence of the sacrificial lamb’ — Judge Mushtak Parker sinks own case by clamming up

‘Silence of the sacrificial lamb’ — Judge Mushtak Parker sinks own case by clamming up
Marianne Thamm
By Marianne Thamm
1 May 2025
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The suspended Western Cape High Court judge faces possible impeachment after claiming he ‘misremembered’ an alleged assault by impeached judge president John Hlophe.

Suspended Western Cape High Court Judge Mushtak Parker’s silence about an alleged assault by impeached judge president John Hlophe has sealed his fate.

Parker, who has been on suspension for almost five years earning R1.2-million a year, chose not to challenge or refute damning evidence in a Judicial Conduct hearing, which drew to a close earlier this week.

The hearing, chaired by retired Judge Bernard Ngoepe, was prompted by complaints to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) by 10 judges in the division that Parker had admitted, in an affidavit, that his boss, Hlophe, had attacked him in 2019.

Change of tune


Later, when Hlophe himself challenged events that had allegedly taken place in Parker’s office in February that year in his own responding affidavit to the JSC, Parker changed his tune.

Taking the fall for Hlophe, Parker said that he had “misremembered” what had occurred when he had fallen backwards, hit a bookshelf, his bodyweight snapping off a key and injuring his back. 

In so doing, Parker set himself in conflict with fellow judges in the division. Hlophe’s tenure as judge president had been fraught with threats, verbal abuse, intimidation and violence.

Read more: How Judge Mushtak Parker risks taking two falls over John Hlophe

Hlophe became the first judge president in democratic South Africa (SA) to be impeached. It took 16 years to hold him to account for attempting to influence Constitutional Court judges in a matter involving Jacob Zuma in 2008.

Other controversies


Several other controversies swirled around Hlophe throughout his term in the division.

After his impeachment and out in the wilderness after being removed from the bench sans financial benefits, Hlophe joined Zuma’s fledgling MK party and has gone on to become its leader in the National Assembly.

Attempts by the party to dispatch Hlophe as a party representative on the JSC, which disciplines and appoints judges, have been challenged in court.

Hlophe sought direct access to appeal to the Constitutional Court against a Western Cape High Court interdict preventing him from sitting as a member of the JSC.

The Constitutional Court ruled that Hlophe had made no case for a direct appeal to the apex court. The matter was dismissed with costs.

Read more: Constitutional court dismisses Hlophe’s direct appeal against high court interdict, with costs

Three applications were lodged at the Western Cape High Court for an interdict to stop Hlophe from occupying a seat on the JSC. In December 2024, the high court dismissed an order for leave to appeal against an interim order which had led to Hlophe’s approach to the Constitutional Court.

Multiple complainants, including the Democratic Alliance and Freedom Under Law, had argued that Parliament had erred in approving Hlophe’s nomination by MK to serve on the JSC.

The Western Cape High Court is yet to deliver its final judgment on the matter.

Disrepute


The evidence leader in the Judicial Conduct hearing, Dr Nkululeko Ndzengu, submitted that Parker should be found guilty of gross misconduct by the tribunal. This would lead to his impeachment.

“If there was no assault then why lie for a year to fellow judges, bringing the judiciary into disrepute?” asked Ndengu.

The tribunal is also investigating the fact that Parker did not disclose, during his interview by the JSC for a position on the Western Cape High Court, that his law firm had diverted monies from a trust account and was being investigated.

‘Unfit to serve’


Advocates Geoff Budlender, representing the 10 judges of the Western Cape, and Janet McCurdie, representing the Cape Bar Council, said Parker was unsuitable to serve as a judge due to the gravity of the complaints against him.

In the meantime, the Legal Practice Council is investigating Parker’s former law firm.

As the matter unfolded, Parker had offered no explanation or apology to his colleagues, and his silence during the virtual hearing could be regarded as an aggravating circumstance.

Judge Parker’s fate will soon be decided. DM

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