I do not understand what you are on about, about me “continuosly jumping to protect the JP”.”

Mzo, please accept my appology for this remark – I confused you with another blogger – your name that is, not your ability!! So sorry, my bad!

Back to this issue – I see Sello did not record his interview with the JP. See his reply to JP Hlope’s denials at -

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-08-14-judge-for-yourself

I just don’t trust these newspapers anymore. Period. It can be Hlophe, Prof, Zuma, Zille or whoever they are reporting about.

My take on it is that if Sello is really the experienced professional we are led to believe he is, then I would expect that he has a recording of the INTERVIEW.

All that will happen then is that the JSC will lay charges against the JP; he will (most probably) deny; they produce the recording…bang, GUILTY AS CHARGED….but there will still be a small matter of appropriate sanction, but that’s an issue for another day.

However, if Sello dropped his standards and failed to keep a recording, I’m afraid we are heading for the same scenario of “I gave the case to him because I knew he will f**k it up” and “it’s a lie, I never said that”.

If the views which you expressed at that time can be taken as a statement of a properly circumspect, general approach to press publications, then as far as I am concerned: fair play indeed. That is, one should not casually accept as truth everything which one reads or hears.

I also recall that you raised the matter of the protracted Squires J misquote. And insofar as you relied thereon to support your apparent general approach to media reports, I think you were justified in doing so.

So the core question here becomes: what do I find problematic about your treatment of the freshest allegations against Hlophe?

While I think your general approach is very sensible, I think that you do not direct enough attention to the particular facts that obtain here.

As regards the interview between Hlophe and Sello, I would have thought a misquote more probable had Sello reported only one or two repugnant utterances. But that is not the case. Rather, Sello has reported a number of utterances which could well prove to be damning if established to the satisfaction of a future tribunal.

It also seems to me quite unlikely that a professional with Sello’s experience would make several misquotes of damning statements.

So while I will agree with you on what I read as your general approach, I tend to think that the probablities, given the circumstances which presently obtain, militate against Hlophe.

And as regards Hlophe’s election to contest the allegations, I would say two things. First – and most importantly – Hlophe should be given a fair chance to challenge the veracity of the publication.

Secondly, I think it is premature to discount the potential relevance of whether Hlophe decided to contest the allegations after the JSC decided to investigate (we hope earnestly). That is, I do not think that the following constitutes a far fetched theory: Hlophe just screwed the pooch this time. He later realised that (a) he did (b), that Nic Dawes is a brave democrat and (c) he had to tender some sort of defense to avoid his silence being construed as a tacit admission.

I thought Sello was reporting on the INTERVIEW he had with Hlophe JP…..now there was also a restaurant conversation?…it ol gets more and more stinky…

Pity it would appear that Sello did not keep those tapes Prof, certainly nor for the restaurant conversation – yet another exit way out for the JP and I will bet you my last Rand, he will use it!!

“In the M&G interview — at a popular African restaurant in Cape Town on August 5 — Hlophe said that although it was Zuma’s prerogative to appoint the next chief justice, he believed that the appointment of Constitutional Court Judge Sandile Ngcobo as a “stop-gap” chief justice would give “his [Zuma's] enemies a chance to regroup”.”

M&G editor Nic Dawes said on Wednesday: “It is not unusual for people to say things at a gathering of friends that they regret when it appears in the cold light of print. Sello and I have discussed the story at length, and the Mail & Guardian stands by it. We have offered Judge Hlophe right of reply, and sincerely hope that he avails himself of it.”

What struck me was the (naughty) implication in the story that Hlophe said these things in a Restaurant where he thought he was among friends (and may have been doing what one does in Restaurants – drink and eat).