Judges can be wrong or biased too

The question of the judiciary being captured by President Cyril Ramaphosa has been a favourite topic of those individuals and parties who are seen to be detractors of the incumbent president.

On Tuesday, during suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s press briefing, the possibility of judges being captured was one of the issues Mkhwebane sought to address. She claimed that all three arms of the state – the executive, the legislature and the judiciary – were involved in undermining her rights.

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“I am not waging war against the three arms of the state. I think I’ve shown the evidence of what justice has done. I mean, like now I have evidence, but I must still prove myself going forward.”

She accused judges of playing the woman, rather than the ball.

“If it’s Mkhwebane and you do not like Mkhwebane because you have been told about Mkhwebane and you can’t be objective, just recuse yourself and allow people who just focus on the law,” she said.

The question which I take from this is: is she just blabbering, or is she actually on to something?

The courts have been seen as the last resort for many but this does not mean that the courts, or judges, cannot be wrong or biased.

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Former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has previously made remarks that there were attempts to corrupt the judiciary – without evidence, of course.

Mogoeng said a captured judiciary would never be able to use the constitution as an instrument of transformation because every captured member of the judiciary will simply be told when so-and-so is involved, I’d better know my place and when they are involved, they can’t lose.

Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane, former president Jacob Zuma, Mkhwebane and many others have raised the issue of judges being captured.

Is it not time to put aside how we feel about these individuals and look at the issues they are raising?

Judges have been made to be gods of society, but judges are human beings, just like us. They pray, buy in the same shops we buy from, socialise, they can vote, they have soccer teams they support, they watch TV, listen to radio, they have their favourite people and they, too, have family issues.

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Judges can also be conflicted, hence they recuse themselves in matters.

The reason we have a constitutional right to appeal is simply because a judge can err – hence the reasons one can appeal and a different judge can find another way.

Judge John Hlophe was found guilty of gross misconduct for trying to sway two Constitutional Justices to rule in favour of Zuma. If this is the case, why can’t we apply the same criticism to the judiciary we apply elsewhere?

Are we really going to say Hlophe is the only judge who has tried to influence fellow colleagues and the rest of them are angels who cannot be corrupted?

Every other profession is questioned: police, soldiers, parliamentarians, journalists, politicians, doctors can be bribed to look the other way.

What makes judges so special that they can’t be questioned and corrupted for that matter?

Hell, even some pastors are in jail for wrongdoing. We are in a country where corruption is at its highest and possibilities of wrongdoing by trusted individuals of society are many.

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Is it not time that we look at certain issues, even though they are raised by those we do not like? Only then can we focus on issues that can help us be a better country.