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Jeremy Gauntlett SC KC has stepped down from the Anglican Church’s inquiry panel into serial abuser John Smyth following allegations that he sexually abused a minor. (Claudi Mailovich/Rapport)
- Amid a claim of historic abuse of a minor, Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC KC has stepped down from an Anglican Church inquiry into the activities of serial child abuser John Smyth.
- Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said Gauntlett himself proposed that he step down, "conveying a concern that the work of the Smyth inquiry not be in any way delayed or obstructed by the issue".
- His alleged victim, Dr Hylton White, said he was "pleased" by the resignation.
Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC KC, one of the country’s top legal minds, has stepped down from the Anglican Church’s inquiry panel into serial child abuser John Smyth following claims that he sexually abused a minor.
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said on Saturday he had accepted Gauntlett's offer to resign, which he had proposed on Friday following allegations made against him.
This follows allegations by Wits University senior social anthropology lecturer Dr Hylton White that Gauntlett had sexually abused him as a teen in the 1980s.
Following the decision, White said he was "pleased to hear that the Archbishop has accepted this resignation".
Gauntlett was part of a three-person panel, alongside former Supreme Court of Appeal judge Ian Farlam and former University of Cape Town vice-chancellor Dr Mamphela Ramphele, tasked with examining the activities of Smyth, a British evangelical Christian barrister, while he was in South Africa.
This comes after last year's independent Makin Review revealed a cover-up of decades of sexual, physical and psychological abuse of as many as 130 boys and young men by Smyth in Britain and Zimbabwe in the 1980s and 1990s.
It was found that Smyth had attended an Anglican Church in Cape Town in the early 2000s and again shortly before he died in 2018, where evidence indicated that it was "highly likely" that Smyth had continued his atrocities in SA.
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White had only recently discovered Gauntlett's inclusion in the local investigation, prompting him to inform the church of his alleged abuse through an intermediary.
When he received no response, he wrote to Makgoba directly on Thursday.
Makgoba confirmed receiving the letter that night. The letter stated that if Gauntlett did not step down from the panel by 31 January, White would make the allegations public.
He nevertheless, on Thursday night, in a Facebook post, published his allegations against the advocate.
"It became clear to me on reflection that these efforts to alert the church discretely were being ignored and would continue to be so. I felt no choice but to proceed to go public," White told News24.
"I regret the Archbishop’s continued assertion that I had taken no action to alert him prior to Thursday. Emails were sent earlier by an intermediary detailing my concerns. These emails were sent to the Archbishop and, as precautionary backup, to another member of the panel at a completely separate address. Neither of them bounced back," he said.
"The Archbishop's office has since been given them again as proof that I had, in fact, reached out but has provided no more acknowledgement of that to me than was provided when they were sent in the first place. I am confused by his denial of this but will leave that to his wisdom."
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Makgoba said following the email on Thursday, he had accepted Gauntlet's proposal to step down on Friday, subject to consultations with other members of the panel.
This after Gauntlett proposed that "in the circumstances created by the letter" he does so, "conveying a concern that the work of the Smyth inquiry not be in any way delayed or obstructed by the issue".
"I accepted his offer, subject to consultation with other members of the panel. As someone who is handling the Smyth matter is being investigated by the panel, I have kept a distance from its work but felt that in the circumstances, I needed to take this step," Makgoba said.
These consultations took place on Saturday, Makgoba confirmed. According to him, he had accepted Gauntlett's offer "on the well-recognised principle in the law that even the appearance of a conflict of interest can be enough to trigger a recusal from a matter".
"Justice Farlam and Dr Ramphele have accepted Advocate Gauntlett's decision with regret and have agreed that they will continue the panel's inquiry to completion. It is expected that this will be accomplished shortly," Makgoba said.
"I await the panel's judgment on the effectiveness of our efforts to eliminate abuse within the church, and my heart goes out to victims and survivors of Smyth."
Calls to Gauntlett on Saturday went unanswered. His comment will be added when received.
