Citizen Online
Thursday, November 16, 2006
By Werner Swart
JOHANNESBURG - The row over Judge Hilary Squires's judgment in convicting Durban businessman Schabir Shaik continues, with even the Minister of Justice, Brigitte Mabandla, getting involved in defending the judiciary.
Several role players have come forward in slamming the actions that were born out of the judgment, from Squires being vilified by political organisations to those applauding his decision to set the record straight.
Squires wrote a letter to a weekend newspaper in which he said the phrase "generally corrupt relationship", which had been attributed to him and widely used by the media and others in describing the relationship between Shaik and ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, was never used by him.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) also came under fire for allegedly endorsing this term, but the SCA hit back by pointing to the fact they only used the term in the introduction to the court's subsidiary civil judgment on the forfeiture of Shaik's assets.
Mabandla stepped into the fray yesterday by saying while she could not comment on alleged impropriety by an SCA judge, the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) could become involved.
She invited those with complaints to take the matter to the JSC, explaining that because these possible remedies were in place, she as the Minister could not intervene and hold an inquiry.
"The rule of law demands of all of us, even if we feel aggrieved by any pronouncement of the court, to uphold and promote the legitimacy and confidence in our courts, by dealing with such disputes rationally, on the basis of the facts and in accordance with the processes and procedures provided in law," said Mabandla.
The Gauteng provincial chairman of the Judicial Officers' Association of South Africa, Daniel Thulare, said a member of the judiciary should not be placed in a public forum where the personal discretion and legal standards involved were questioned and challenged by others.
Accusing both Squires and the SCA of being out of order, Thulare, referring to the letter that was written by Squires, said he could not understand what more the retired judge wanted people to understand out of what he wrote in his judgment.
" Similarly, the SCA clarified its thoughts, explained its decision to Shaik and the State, communicated its reasons for its decision to the public and provided reasons for any court of higher instance, if needs be, to consider," he said.
"Why are the learned Judges of Appeal concerned with whatever spin doctors say?"
The ANC Youth League, at a press conference in Johannesburg yesterday, once again claimed Zuma had been prejudiced by Squires in the trial judge's ruling.
They said the judgment against Shaik was littered with inferences and implications which were unfairly prejudicial to Zuma.
"Zuma had not appeared in court at the time when Judge Squires issued his verdict against Shaik and therefore could have never been found guilty in absentia," the League said in a statement.
President Fikile Mbalula also refused to apologise to Squires for earlier labelling him a racist.