There is a campaign to delegitimise the judiciary – Mogoeng

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng on Thursday released his annual report on the state of the judiciary, saying at a media briefing that he believed the judiciary was being targeted by a “campaign” driven by political motives.

“There is a campaign to delegitimise the judiciary, to make sure when there is a judgment against [certain people or political parties], they can delegitimise the outcome,” he said.

Mogoeng said those with evidence of judges implicated in corruption must come forward and give information to the police or the media.

The chief justice acknowledged that people within the judiciary had been accused of corruption, and said the Hawks had now been instructed to deal with this.

The judiciary had “never avoided holding their own accountable” when accusations of misconduct had arisen, he said.

Mogoeng did not give any names in terms of who was attempting to delegitimise the judiciary.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has at several points called the state of the judiciary into question.

READ MORE: Trevor Manuel calls Old Mutual judge a ‘single individual who happens to wear a robe’

Appearing in June at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court over charges that he violated the Riotous Assemblies Act for telling his supporters to occupy vacant land, he spoke to his followers after the case’s postponement.

“South Africa must be warned, something wrong is happening with the judiciary. The judiciary is about to be captured,” he said.

Then, in August, the General Council of the Bar (GCB) condemned personal attacks Malema made against the judiciary during his address on Women’s Day.

Among other things, Malema said the current stock of judges were “traumatised old people”.

More recently, Old Mutual chairperson Trevor Manuel was accused of showing a lack of respect for the judiciary following Judge Brian Mashile’s ruling that the company’s dismissal of CEO Peter Moyo was illegal and must be overturned.

“If you take a board imbued with the responsibility and accountability and you get that overturned by a single individual who happens to wear a robe, I think you have a bit of a difficulty,” he told the media.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman.)