Judge Chris Nicholson has come under fire for supporting conspiracy theories that threaten not only the judiciary itself but the political stability of the country.

United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa lodged a complaint with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Friday last week against Nicholson in relation to his judgement in the case involving ANC president Jacob Zuma.

Explaining his decision to do so, he hit out at Nicholson’s comments concerning political meddling.

“It is highly dangerous in a volatile political climate for a judge to make inferences that give credence to an unproven conspiracy theory of political interference,” he told the Mail & Guardian.

“Indeed, the judge must have been fully aware, like every other South African, that the legal battles of Mr Zuma and the swirling conspiracy theories present a threat to the legitimacy of the new justice system under a democratic dispensation.”

In a letter to Chief Justice Pius Langa concerning his complaint to the JSC, Holomisa wrote: “This particular matter has already had major political and judicial implications. The prominence of Mr Zuma means that the matter has profound implications for our democracy. It is therefore in the public interest that any instance of perceived judicial bias in the matter of Mr Zuma should be thoroughly investigated.

The UDM leader then went on to urge the statutory body tasked with investigating judicial misconduct to make a finding on “whether Judge Nicholson is fit to hold office under the circumstances”.

JSC spokesperson advocate Marumo Moerane this week confirmed that the JSC is in possession of Holomisa’s letter. It is expected that the JSC will discuss the complaint at its next sitting in April.

Responding to the M&G, Holomisa denied he was suggesting that Nicholson could have been biased in favour of Zuma.

“No, I haven’t said so, but I do know that many people had serious reservations about Judge Nicholson’s judgement, even before the Supreme Court of Appeal [SCA] made their ruling,” he said.

He added that South African’s were “duty-bound” to heed the warning and concerns by a full bench of the SCA in its judgement, which earlier this month reversed Nicholson’s ruling and paved the way for Zuma’s prosecution. The SCA, Holomisa said, felt “obliged” to bring its concerns into the attention of the South African public.

“It would be foolish to ignore the concerns they raised,” he said.

Speaking to the M&G this week, Holomisa assessed the impact of the judgement on the South African political landscape.

“Seven days after Judge Nicholson made his unfounded inferences and gave judicial credibility to an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory, the ANC used that judgement to remove a sitting head of state,” he said.

He added that the JSC needed to make a determination on whether Nicholson was still fit to be on the Bench as otherwise “question marks” would arise regarding his previous and future judgements.

Although it is a standard feature of the legal system that judges’ decisions be reviewed, Holomisa said the Nicholson situation was “worrying” because of the manner in which his colleagues had rebuked him.

With acknowledgements to Sello S Alcock and Mail and Guardian.