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President Jacob Zuma. Photo: Bongiwe Mchunu

Following his public exchanges with the judiciary, President Jacob Zuma said there was a need to “review the Constitutional Court’s powers”.

This was part of a democratic process to counterbalance the powers of the three arms of the state, he said.

In an interview with Independent Newspapers on Sunday, Zuma repeated that judges were not “special people”, but fallible human beings.

The issue of the review of the powers of the Constitutional Court was raised by a deputy minister and ANC leader at the party’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting two weeks ago, and was canvassed among cabinet ministers. Two sources in the party and the government confirmed this.

But on Sunday Zuma said: “(It is) not necessarily ANC NEC members. It is a general societal issue that is being raised. (It is a) growing view.”

He questioned the logic of split judgments, saying: “How could you say that (the) judgment is absolutely correct when the judges themselves have different views about it?

“We don’t want to review the Constitutional Court, we want to review its powers.

“It is after experience that some of the decisions are not decisions that every other judge in the Constitutional Court agrees with,” he said.

“There are dissenting judgments. You will find that the dissenting one has more logic than the one that enjoyed the majority. What do you do in that case? That’s what has made the issue to become (one) of concern.”

Judges were “influenced by what’s happening and who are influenced by you guys (the media)”, Zuma said.

If the decisions of Parliament and the executive could be challenged, there was nothing wrong in questioning the decisions of the judiciary, he said.

Twice last year, Zuma reminded the judiciary that its powers could not be regarded as superior to those of the executive, which was elected by popular vote. In 2009, shortly before he became president, Zuma said the status of the Constitutional Court should be reviewed because its judges were not God.

In December, the cabinet decided to assess the judgments of the Constitutional Court, and last month judges opposed Justice Minister Jeff Radebe’s intention to compel them to declare their financial interests.

But Zuma said his view on the judiciary was not informed by judgments against his presidency, including the Supreme Court of Appeal’s ruling overturning his appointment of Menzi Simelane as the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP).

The same court is expected to rule this week on the decision taken in 2009 by Simelane’s predecessor, then acting NDPP Mokotedi Mpshe, to decline to prosecute Zuma for corruption. Both cases were brought by the DA.

But Zuma said on Sunday that it was part of a democratic process for the courts to challenge his decisions. - Political Bureau