SA’s top judge in an acting capacity, Raymond Zondo, has hit back at an opinion column by tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu that described some judges as slaves serving in their oppressors’ houses.
“It should not be acceptable in a constitutional democracy such as ours that a member of parliament and a member of the executive should wake up one morning without any facts, just write an article, and insult all African judges,” said Zondo.
He called Sisulu’s column for Independent Newspapers an insult and claimed her remarks had created an untenable situation. Zondo predicted rising attacks on the judiciary.
“We accept that we may be criticised but we say criticism should be fair and should have a proper factual basis,” he said.
In a rare and risky moment of censure of a politician outside a court judgment — and by the country’s judicial leader — Zondo slated the Sisulu opinion piece, which was produced in her personal capacity.
He insisted that he “had to” respond and did so after consulting fellow apex court justices and heads of court.
“When judges make certain decisions and certain people in society don’t like those decisions ... I think they hope that in the future, the judiciary would be scared of making decisions against them,” he said.
Zondo’s hard-hitting reply comes five days after the piece was published. It has sparked fierce public debate. “We have a neoliberal constitution with foreign inspiration, but who are the interpreters?” wrote Sisulu.
She claimed SA’s uppermost judges “are only too happy to lick the spittle of those who falsely claim superiority” when “the language of the law has done little to really change anything”.
“I found it to be completely unacceptable,” said Zondo of the full text.
Sisulu warned of the danger of “the mentally colonised African” who, as leaders or “interpreters of the law” proved “worse than your oppressor”.
Zondo said: “Everyone knows that interpreters of the law are judges.” He viewed the piece as “an insult” to all judges, including “the African judges who serve this country with distinction, with determination, to uphold the constitution”.
To him, Sisulu’s conduct is “completely unacceptable” and “it would be a pity if it was allowed to stand” while judges must press on with their work, upholding their oath of office. “Our judgments will speak for us,” Zondo said.
In penning the column, Sisulu, who is a possible challenger to President Cyril Ramaphosa in the ANC leadership race in December, aligns herself with ANC peers highly critical of the judiciary. They include former president Jacob Zuma and suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule.
Under Ramaphosa, the ANC had its worst performance yet in the local government elections in November, falling under 50% and prompting forecasts that it could lose its outright majority in the 2023 national election.
Sisulu, who has served in parliament since 1994, ran against Ramaphosa in an internal party election in 2017. She formally entered the 2022 race earlier in January.
Zondo’s remarks may be perceived as veering alarmingly close to the dividing lines between the executive, legislature and judiciary.
Other politicians’ inflammatory remarks about the judiciary — including those by DA federal council chair Helen Zille, EFF leader Julius Malema and Zuma — have escaped such heat in a public address from a judicial leader. If the intention was to strengthen his hand as a potential chief justice, then Zondo’s fiery response may prove to be an own goal for his chances of a promotion to permanent appointee.
“That’s fine ... I will never not do my job just because I want to be appointed as chief justice. I have absolutely no doubt that this is what I needed to do,” he said.
Mbekezeli Benjamin, a Judges Matter researcher, said the column “does undermine the judiciary” and erodes respect between different arms of state. He suggested Zondo could have issued a statement instead of holding a briefing “because it’s unwise for judges to speak publicly on issues outside judgments and academic writings”.
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