Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke will answer his critics in the African National Congress and its Youth League in a statement to be issued on Thursday.
The ANC’s National Working Committee has accused Moseneke of showing disdain for delegates to its National Conference in December last year in remarks made at his recent 60th birthday party.
His comments highlighted the difficulty the judiciary ”appears to have in shedding its historical leanings and political orientation”, the ANC said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to a Sunday Times report on Moseneke’s celebrations, he said he had chosen his job ”very carefully”.
”I have another 10 to 12 years on the bench and I want to use my energy to help create an equal society.
”It’s not what the ANC wants or what the delegates want; it is about what is good for our people.”
Returning a telephone inquiry by the South African Press Association on Wednesday, Moseneke refused to comment on the matter.
Asked whether his remarks had been taken out of context, he said he did not want to speak before the release of his ”crafted” statement.
This would be issued between 9am and noon on Thursday, he said.
The Youth League has called on Moseneke to apologise for discussing the ANC in the company of, among others, the National Prosecuting Authority’s former head Bulelani Ngcuka, who controversially stated there was a prima facie, but unwinnable case against the country’s then deputy president Jacob Zuma.
Zuma has since been elected president of the ANC.
”This confirms our long held view that Comrade Jacob Zuma can and will never get a fair trial, worst when a judge of the High Court in the land discusses such matters in a party,” the Youth League charged.
”Judges must be above reproach and must refuse manipulation even if it’s a perception. Our judiciary faces a credibility crisis and we need to restore the confidence of the public in the justice system.
”The comments that the Deputy Chief Justice made have put the name of the judiciary into disrepute, and once more have raised questions about the independence and objectivity of the judiciary.”
Moseneke will probably be on the bench which considers Zuma’s pending Constitutional Court challenge of aspects of the search and seizure process against him. – Sapa