Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe has written a letter to Chief Justice Pius Langa in which he denies ever saying he would not shake his hand, reports said on Friday.

"I could never have spoken in such disparaging terms about you," Hlophe said in a letter to Langa, according to Mail & Guardian and Beeld newspapers.

He also denied saying the judges of the Constitutional Court had "sold out".

"I have consistently stated both publicly and privately that I regard the work of the Constitutional Court as sacred," Hlophe wrote.

Civil rights group AfriForum on Thursday said it had complained to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) about the alleged racist remarks that Hlophe reportedly made toward Langa.

"Hlophe is quoted as having said, among other things, that he refused to shake the hand of Chief Justice Pius Langa, as 'I am not going to shake a white man's hand'," AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said.

His quote was first reported in the Mail & Guardian, whose editor Nic Dawes stands by his reporter's story.

The journalist, Sello Alcock, wrote a piece on Friday in which he explained the context of Hlophe's statement, saying it was very clear that Hlophe was referring to Langa and not to another judge.

"I specifically remember him saying that he had gladly shaken Judge Chris Jafta's hand because he had 'told the truth' to the JSC," said Alcock.

"He [Hlophe] defiantly added that he had refused to shake Langa's hand, adding: 'I refuse to shake a white man's hand'."

Hlophe has been embroiled in racism allegations against him in the past, and is also facing a complaint by Constitutional Court judges that he had tried to intervene in a ruling involving President Jacob Zuma.

Langa has declined to comment on the latest Hlophe saga.

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