Judicial Independence: President Zuma, you have no credibility on this issue
9 July 2015
The DA notes the comments made by President Jacob Zuma this morning regarding the judiciary and his commitment to affirming its independence. This simply is not borne out by his actions, and is bizarre considering his term in office has been marred by the flagrant contempt he and his Executive have demonstrated for our Judiciary.
This comes after the Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng, and Deputy Chief Justice, Dikgang Moseneke, yesterday briefed the media after the Judiciary's Heads of Court meeting in Kempton Park.
Mogoeng CJ rejected claims that judges are being influenced to reach specific verdicts. He further added "there have been suggestions that in certain cases... judges have been prompted to arrive at a predetermined result. This is a notion that we reject."
We commend the Chief Justice and the 27 jurists who attended the meeting for reaffirming their resistance to undue political influence from the politically connected.
President Zuma’s response, on the other hand, that he “reasserts his own commitment and that of the Executive to the independence of the Judiciary and its role as the final arbiter in all disputes in society, as well as to the further strengthening of the existing good working relations between the two arms of the state” is completely farcical.
The story of Mr Zuma and his Executive is one characterised by contempt for the Rule of Law, due process and prosecutorial and judicial independence and they have collectively inflicted the most brutal assaults on our justice system to achieve their own self-interested ends.
The current wave of public criticism by the President and his Executive in fact constitutes an escalating attempt to intimidate the Judiciary to betray its constitutional duty and instead do the bidding of the Executive. The stage for this campaign of intimidation was set by President Zuma, in the January 8th statement this year when he declared that the transformation of the collective mindset of the Judiciary is on the agenda of the ANC this year.
It is clear that the aim of this so-called transformation is for the Judiciary not to question the ANC when it subverts the Rule of Law.
Let us recount the most notable of these instances:
President Zuma himself has, for more than six years, abused the taxpayers money and due process to evade accountability for the 783 charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering against him in the Spy tapes saga. To this end, he made the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) complicit in his contempt of court.
His Police Minister, Nathi Nhleko, - before embarking on his bizarre Nkandla roadshow- unlawfully suspended the Head of the Hawks, Anwa Dramat, when he intimated he was to investigate the Nkandlagate scandal. Minister Nhleko, in this regard, is in direct contravention of a Constitutional Court order preventing him from suspending Mr Dramat without consulting Parliament, yet he remains in office.
The very same Police Minister unlawfully installed an acting Hawks head, Berning Ntlemeza, who presently holds the position even though several courts have upheld the Constitutional Court’s ruling declaring the suspension of Dramat and subsequent installation of Mr Ntlemeza as unlawful. Mr Ntlemeza remains in office despite the courts giving express directives to the contrary.
Most recently is the Executive’s brazen decision to facilitate the Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir’s fleeing from our jurisdiction despite an explicit North Gauteng High Court order prohibiting his departure from South Africa. This all the while knowing full well our obligations under the Rome Statute.
Is this the respect for the Judiciary’s independence to which Mr Zuma refers?
His conduct and the conduct of his Executive, in the last 7 months alone, speaks for itself and tells a grim story of an ANC in government that is prepared to go to any lengths to achieve its own nefarious ends; even in contravention of the Rule of Law.
The truth of the matter is that Mr Zuma has no credibility on this issue and his repeated overtures about his commitment to judicial independence are meaningless.
Just yesterday SACP General-Secretary and Minister of Higher Education and Training, Blade Nzimande, attacked the judiciary for “interfering with the state through its overreaching judgments.” This further demonstrates that members of his Cabinet and the tripartite alliance have nothing but contempt for our Judiciary.
Even the Secretary-General of ANC, Gwede Mantashe, after an alliance summit last week, expressed concern about the Judiciary interfering with the Executive and the Legislature, in what he termed “judicial overreach”.
If President Zuma, the Executive and the ANC are at all serious about reaffirming the independence of the Judiciary they would refrain from launching these attacks on the courts and would do well to abide by court orders and rulings and setting an example for South Africans across the country.
President Zuma must lead by example and publically distance himself and his government from these comments because his failure to do so makes him party to the erosion of our judicial independence.
It has been our long held belief that the law and due process needs to be applied consistently and fairly to all South Africans; even the political elite.
President Zuma must lead by example and publically distance himself and his government from these comments because his failure to do so makes him party to the erosion of our judicial independence.
Until Zuma’s government makes concerted efforts to attain this ideal, he will not have a shred of credibility on this issue.
Statement issued by Adv Glynnis Breytenbach MP, DA Shadow Minister of Justice, July 9 2015
