The Anglican Church of SA (ACSA) confirmed they have accepted the resignation from one of the inquiry panellists who would examine the activities of the serial abuser John Smyth in South Africa.
This comes as Gauntlett reportedly faces his own allegations of sexual abuse of a teenage boy.
The resignation and allegations are said to be unrelated to the Smyth case.
In a statement by ACSA, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town accepted an offer from Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC KC to step down from the inquiry panel which Makgoba had set up.
Makgoba said Advocate Gauntlett had proposed on Friday that he step down from the panel, following allegations unrelated to the Smyth case made in an email to the archbishop on Thursday evening.
Archbishop Makgoba accepted the offer on Friday, subject to consultations with other members of the panel.
Makgoba said he had accepted Advocate 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”.
Advocate Gauntlett - together with former Supreme Court of Appeal judge Ian Farlam, former UCT vice-chancellor Dr Mamphela Ramphele - were the panel appointed for its inquiry against the late Smyth, who is accused of having committed sexual abuse and “abuse in England and Zimbabwe” of at least 85 boy victims.
On Saturday, Makgoba said in a statement: “On the evening of Thursday January 16, 2025, I received a letter concerning a quite separate allegation of abuse, in which the complainant said that if Advocate Gauntlett did not step down from the panel by January 31, he (the complainant) would make the allegation public.
“Without further communication, the complainant later that evening published details of his allegations on social media. No complaint is known to have been made to Safe Church (ACSA’s specialist safeguarding body) or to the church itself regarding the matter in the past 40 years.
“On the morning of Friday January 17, Advocate Gauntlett proposed that in the circumstances created by the letter he step down from the panel, 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 whose handling of 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,” said Makgoba.
According to the statement, Justice Farlam and Dr Ramphele 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”, the statement detailed.