Minister Masutha must retract his assault on SA’s constitutional democracy

1 February 2017

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Michael Masutha, must immediately and publicly retract his shocking comment that the courts will not dictate to the government on the withdrawal from the ICC.

Minister Masutha stated that “I cannot see how a court can dictate – either to the executive or this Parliament”.

This remark is disparaging, utterly misdirected and quite frankly, disrespectful.

It is unfathomable that in a constitutional democracy such as ours, where the independence of the judiciary is enshrined in our Constitution that the Minister of Justice can say “the state will not be dictated to by the judiciary”.

As the Minister of Justice, Masutha should understand that his role is to protect judicial independence, the rule of law and to stop political interference. He has no right to dictate to the courts on what they should or should not do.

The DA remains committed to the values of judicial independence and will ensure that the Minister re-dedicates himself to these values by apologising to our judicial branch.

Issued by Glynnis Breytenbach, DA Shadow Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, 1 February 2017