Former judge Johann Kriegler has a condescending attitude toward black people, said Judicial Service Commission (JSC) member advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza.

"It is impossible to live with the very obvious condescending attitude toward black people which has become a repeated theme in his [Kriegler's] statements," Ntsebeza, SC, told Beeld newspaper.

"He [Kriegler] is in essence saying that all black judges were appointed because they are black and not on merit."

Ntsebeza has resigned from the Freedom Under Law (FUL) body, which is headed by Kriegler, a former Constitutional Court judge.

Kriegler announced last week that he intended challenging the JSC's decision not to probe Cape Judge President John Hlophe, who was accused of gross misconduct by the current judges of the Constitutional Court.

Ntsebeza, who resigned from FUL alongside Cyril Ramaphosa and Johannesburg High Court Acting Judge Kgomotso Moroka, said he was concerned about Kriegler's "public campaign against Hlophe".

Hlophe was accused of trying to interfere in a pending judgment by the Constitutional Court in a case related to President Jacob Zuma.

Kriegler said he needed to challenge the JSC decision because it was "the biggest threat to rule of law the country has experienced since it emerged from darkness".