Karyn Maughan | Fear, loathing and a missing Porsche: The case that could see Hlophe’s lawyer jailed

A saga involving Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe's lawyer, Barnabas Xulu, starkly illustrates the dysfunction of the Western Cape High Court, and how he is trying to use the JSC to lay complaints against judges who have decided against him, writes Karyn Maughan.

Barnabas Xulu, Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s long-time attorney, is facing potential imprisonment for multiple acts of contempt of court – related to his firm’s failure to pay back R20 million in fees it unlawfully received from the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries.

In a hard-hitting contempt of court application filed against Xulu and his firm last month, the department asks the Western Cape High Court to order that he be imprisoned, should he fail to comply with an October 2020 court order to hand over his Porsche 911 Carrera to the Cape Town Sheriff for safekeeping, until his personal liability for that R20 million is determined.