The Johannesburg High Court on Monday dismissed an application brought by former statesmen Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki seeking the removal of TRC Cases Inquiry chairperson Sisi Khampepe.
This marked their second failed attempt to challenge her position in the ongoing commission proceedings.
Procedural misstep
The matter, which cited multiple respondents including the chairperson of the commission, the secretary of the commission, Adv Ishmael Semenya SC, commissioner Frans Kgomo, the Calata Group, and the National Prosecuting Authority, was struck down on procedural grounds.
In a decisive ruling, the court upheld a preliminary objection raised by the above respondents.
The court found that both Zuma and Mbeki failed to comply with Section 47 of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013, a procedural requirement deemed critical to the validity of the application.
As a result, the court declared the proceedings a nullity and dismissed the application in its entirety.
Zuma and Mbeki must pay legal costs
The judgment further ordered that Zuma and Mbeki bear the legal costs of the respondents, jointly and severally, including the costs of two counsel where applicable.
Their request for punitive or personal costs against commissioner Khampepe was also refused.
The ruling underscores the court’s strict adherence to procedural compliance and brings a significant setback to their efforts to remove commissioner Khampepe from her role.
In a ruling delivered in January 2026, Justice Khampepe found that neither former president had established actual bias or a reasonable apprehension of bias. She also found that both had delayed unreasonably in bringing their applications.
“The applications for my recusal must, therefore, fail. Both applicants have delayed unreasonably and failed to provide proper explanations for their delays. And such delays demonstrate that their apprehension of bias is not reasonable,” Khampepe ruled.
The former presidents had alleged that Khampepe was biased because of her previous roles as a member of the TRC Amnesty Committee and as a deputy national director of public prosecutions.
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