Pretoria - The crucial meeting between the executive and the judiciary is currently underway at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
A delegation of senior judges, led by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, arrived at the building on Thursday morning for a meeting Mogoeng requested last month, at the height of various attacks on the judiciary by senior members of the ANC and government.
Mogoeng’s delegation includes deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, judge presidents John Hlophe, Diale Kgomo, Monica Leeuw, Dunstan Mlambo.
Zuma is chairing the meeting, with his delegations including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, Justice Minister Michael Masutha, deputy justice minister John Jeffery, human settlements minister Lindiwe Sisulu and environmental affairs minister Edna Molewa.
The ANC on Thursday morning welcomed the meeting, saying the party was committed to the independence of the judiciary and the doctrine of the separation of powers.
It is our expectation that the two arms of state, separate, equal and independent, will continue working together for the good of the country in the discharge of their different responsibilities,” ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said.
The ANC and government’s unhappiness with judges was this year emphasised following the alliance summit, at which Moseneke came under particular criticism for his public utterances about the role of the judiciary in the South African political landscape.
The legal issue of government ignoring a court order to prevent Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir leaving the country when he was here for the African Union summit further exacerbated the tensions.
Government has made an application for leave to appeal a ruling by the Pretoria High Court that its failure to arrest al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court of which SA is a signatory, was unconstitutional.
This matter is expected to feature during the meeting.
Pretoria News