President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced plans for the judiciary to be established as an independent institution like parliament, a call that judges have been making for years.
He made the historical announcement at the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg on Friday.
This means the judiciary will no longer fall under the department of justice and constitutional development but will be independent like other arms of state, the executive and the legislature.
This heeds long-standing calls from judges and civil society to ensure the independence of the judiciary would be safeguarded from political infiltration.
Chief justice Mandisa Maya in her speech at the event, which was attended by former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe, and justices from different countries, spoke about the importance of the independence of the judiciary and lamented the need to bolster its independence.
Ramaphosa said: “At our [recent] meeting with the chief justice and members of the judiciary, we committed to taking steps at advancing the independence of the judiciary.
“A parliament joint committee is now in action to finalise this whole process of the independence of the judiciary.”
He said the committee would develop the action plan and finalise it within six weeks.
“It has been an anomaly in our constitutional architecture that we had parliament as an independent institution in our constitution, fully recognised and the executive,” he said.
“But the judiciary has on an unfair basis had to depend on the government on a variety of matters from getting approval for the appointment of people and not even being in complete control of their own budget. This comes to an end now.
“The judiciary will be independent. We will ensure the judiciary is rightly constituted as an equal branch of the state, same level as government and the legislature.”
Ramaphosa said this was a policy change that former chief justice Raymond Zondo had insisted that the government adopt.
“Former chief justice Raymond Zondo, your wish is now being fulfilled and will be fulfilled through your successor, you can smile.
“To ensure that the judiciary executes its duties independently, effectively and with dignity, the government must and will provide a range of institutional infrastructure, financial and administrative legal support.
“The support is crucial for maintaining judicial independence, which is the cornerstone of maintaining democracy and the rule of law.”
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