President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that the recent attacks on the country\u2019s judiciary should not be taken lightly, warning that these shake the very foundations of South Africa\u2019s constitutional democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless supported by evidence, such claims undermine confidence in our courts, and weaken our Constitutional order,\u201d wrote the President in his weekly newsletter on Monday.<\/p>\n
This as there have been utterances directed at the judiciary, in which some judges are accused, without any evidence, of pursuing interests other than the cause of justice. Judges have been accused of political agendas and some have even been accused of accepting bribes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should therefore be concerned when those who occupy prominent positions in society make statements that demonstrate a disdain for the basic principles of our Constitution and the institutions established to defend our democracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The President expressed concern at allegations that are without evidence saying that they are deeply disturbing for two reasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly, if such claims were true, it would mean that there are some within the judiciary who are failing to uphold the values and principles with which they have been entrusted.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said South Africa\u2019s Constitution makes provision for such a possibility. The National Assembly is empowered to remove judges who are found by the Judicial Service Commission to be guilty of gross misconduct.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Judicial Service Commission is a carefully constituted body, which includes representatives from the judiciary but also the legal profession, academia and Parliament. There are clear processes established in law to deal with allegations of misconduct against members of the judiciary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He urged those who had evidence of any wrongdoing by any judge to make use of the avenues provided in the Constitution and law to ensure that appropriate action is taken.<\/p>\n
The claims against the judiciary, he said, were also disturbing in that, without the presentation of evidence to support the claims, and unless referred to the relevant authorities, all such allegations do is to undermine the judiciary and the important function that it performs in the country\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, South Africa is a free country, with a Constitution that guarantees freedom of expression and opinion. However, when some in positions of responsibility choose to use those freedoms to undermine our Constitutional order, they should be reminded of the possible consequences of their utterances,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Maintaining Constitutional order<\/strong><\/p>\n One of these possible consequences is the erosion of trust in the judiciary and constitutional order.<\/p>\n \u201cIn all our actions, we need to take heed of Section 165(3) of the Constitution, which says: \u2018no person or organ of state may interfere with the functioning of the courts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe interfere with the functioning of our courts and weaken the rule of law when we attack the judiciary. Our failure to implement our courts\u2019 injunctions weakens our constitutional democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that the public has a responsibility to the generations of its forebears, many of whom gave their lives so that South Africa may have a democratic Constitution.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a responsibility to the millions of South Africans who look to the Constitution for protection and relief,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The democratic Constitution, he said, \u201cis the product of years of sacrifice and struggle\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMany South Africans endured great pain and hardship, and many lost their lives, so that we could live in a democracy where all may enjoy equal rights,\u201d said President Ramaphosa.<\/p>\n The President said the values, principles and rights contained in the Constitution are neither trivial, nor abstract.<\/p>\n These he said, directly affect the daily lives of millions of people, preventing the arbitrary use of power, providing protection to the vulnerable, and advancing the access of all people to shelter, water, health care, education and social support. \u201cWithout these checks and balances, without each arm of the state fulfilling its responsibility, without adherence to the Constitution, our democracy is vulnerable and worthless,\u201d he said. – SAnews.gov.za<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that the recent attacks on the country\u2019s judiciary should not be taken lightly, warning that these shake the very foundations of South Africa\u2019s constitutional democracy. \u201cUnless supported by evidence, such claims undermine confidence in our courts, and weaken our Constitutional order,\u201d wrote the President in his weekly newsletter on Monday. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[38678],"class_list":{"0":"post-181262","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-sanews","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181262\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cThe Constitution is also vital to maintaining a system of checks and balances to prevent the abuse and concentration of power to the detriment of the people. The three arms of the state \u2013 the legislature, the executive and the judiciary \u2013 each have a role to play in ensuring accountability and adherence to the rule of law.<\/p>\n