DA demands ministers be questioned about break-in at Office of Chief Justice

The Democratic Alliance on Monday demanded that the ministers of police, justice and safety and security be called to Parliament to answer questions about the break-in at the Office of the Chief Justice.

DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach has written to the chairman of the portfolio committee on Justice, Mathole Motshekga, urging him to call the trio to attend a briefing by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng’s office on Thursday.

Breytenbach reiterated that the official opposition regarded the security breach as suspect.

“We need to know what is being done to establish who was responsible for the break-in and the measures that are being taken to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future and to safeguard our judiciary from any attacks, threats or acts of intimidation,” she said in a statement.

“The break-in at the Office of the Chief Justice on Saturday 18 March 2017, where 15 computers containing confidential information on South Africa’s 250 judges were stolen, is deeply concerning and highly suspicious.”

The break-in happened a day after the Constitutional Court voiced scathing criticism of the executive in a ruling on the welfare grant crisis.

The court intervened to ensure grant payment could continue beyond the end of the month, when government’s contract with Cash Paymaster Services for grant distribution would have run its course.

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