Judiciary not under threat – Jeffery

Deputy Justice Minister John Jeffery has told a National Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel) conference in Pietermaritzburg that the judiciary is not under threat from government, according to an SABC News report. Noting the governing African National Congress called for an activist judiciary in its Mangaung policy document, he said the party would not have done that if it wanted to clip the wings of the judiciary. Jeffery said that those suggesting the judiciary was under threat ‘are doing so to undermine the government’. He added: ‘They're creating a bogey that isn't there.’ Nadel president, Mvuzo Notyesi, asked the conference why it was being left to the likes of the liberal Helen Suzman Foundation and Afrikaans rights group AfriForum to take human rights issues to court. He asked members if Nadel had become an arm-chair critic of government instead of playing an activist role. One of those who responded, Judge Siraj Desai, is quoted as saying: ‘The issues they advocate are issues being advocated all over the world; highly-funded litigation, where the courts are being used to frustrate, not advance, democracy. So, I think when one draws a comparison between organisations such as the Helen Suzman Foundation and AfriForum, one must start on the premise that these are suspect organisations.’