KZN ANC declares war on judiciary
Party plans to hold a mass action ‘to defend’ their vote on Monday
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has declared war on the judiciary and is planning a mass march against it on Monday.
KwaZulu-Natal ANC secretary Super Zuma said yesterday that faced with increasing “encroachment on political and executive matters” by the judiciary‚ the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal will hold a day of mass action aimed at defending their vote.
The party, however, warded off suggestions it was a proPresident Jacob Zuma march in retaliation to the rampant anti-Zuma marches that have taken the country by storm.
The party said it was a decision taken following a provincial executive committee meeting.
This comes as the parliamentary call for a motion of no confidence in Zuma is temporarily halted pending a Constitutional Court hearing the same day and judgment on a secret ballot for the vote.
Super said judgment by the court – expected to be delivered on that day – in favour of a “frivolous” vote of no confidence against Zuma would be a judiciary overreach.
Last week‚ North Gauteng High Court Judge Bashier Vally ruled that Zuma should furnish the DA with reasons behind his reshuffling of the cabinet last month.
“ANC MPs in parliament represent members of our movement and the supporters who voted the ANC into power. Therefore the use of judiciary by opposition parties undermines the principle of separation of powers‚” said Super.
“It’s not a pro-who or antiwho march‚ but the leader of society, which is the ANC, is the one that is embarking on this march‚” Super said.
Spokesman for the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal Mdumiseni Ntuli‚ who addressed the media briefing with Super yesterday‚ questioned why the judiciary had this “appetite to encroach on political matters”.
“Only in South Africa you can have a judge ruling on the matters of the executive. It is strange and dangerous. The executive is the one that implements and monitors‚ not the judiciary. There’s a clear separation of powers between these organs of the state‚” Ntuli said.
He said the judiciary was therefore overstretching its legal mandate.
Super and Ntuli blamed opposition parties, saying they have been using the courts to settle political scores.