AfriForum asks Court of Appeal judge to recuse herself from the “Kill the Boer” case
AfriForum’s legal team this past Friday sent a letter to the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Appeal in which it is officially requested that acting Judge of Appeal Raylene Keightley recuse herself from further participation in the panel of judges who must rule on AfriForum’s appeal application against Julius Malema and the EFF’s use of the chant “Kill the Boer”.
This request follows after it came to light this past week that Keightley lashed out against AfriForum in court in 2018 by arguing that this civil rights organisation is unwilling to move beyond its “anachronistic positions”. At the time, she also stated that AfriForum might wish to consider to apply for her recusal should she preside again in a case in which AfriForum is involved.
In this lawyer’s letter AfriForum asks that Keightley should follow her conscience and recuse herself, but indicates that, should she not do so, AfriForum will bring an official court application for her recusal from the panel. According to AfriForum Judge Keightley’s actions during the hearing in Bloemfontein this past Monday, as well as the previous statements by this judge about AfriForum, gave rise to the reasonable suspicion that Judge Keightley is biased against AfriForum.
Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, says that he and AfriForum’s legal team in the “Kill the Boer” case were only informed after Monday’s hearing – in which he experienced Keightley to be openly biased – of Keightley’s tirade against AfriForum in the High Court in Pretoria on 15 June 2018. According to Kriel, Keithley ruled against AfriForum at the time in the court case regarding Unisa’s decision to scrap Afrikaans as a language of instruction. Keightley granted leave to AfriForum to appeal against her ruling and then, according to Kriel, said that given that she had already decided to grant leave, she could say “these things” about AfriForum. Kriel pointed out that both the Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court subsequently ruled in AfriForum’s favour against Keightley’s initial judgement.
According to Kriel, Keightley’s partial actions put the spotlight anew on the danger that the current political composition of the Judicial Service Commission poses for the credibility of the judiciary. “If Keightley, who is currently acting as Judge of Appeal, wanted a permanent appointment in the said court, she would have to appear before the Judicial Service Commission, of which Julius Malema is a member, and be recommended for the position by Malema and other members. AfriForum has always had high regard for the Supreme Court of Appeal and its judges, but this kind of conflict of interest and Keightley’s actions pose the danger that ordinary people may lose confidence in the courts,” concludes Kriel.
