DA slams Superior Courts BIll

By Tando Mfengwana
02 July 2007


The Democratic Alliance has come out against the ANC after it called to Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla to speed up the Superior Courts Bill during its Police conference last week.

“The Transformation Bill seriously hampers the independence of the judiciary”, DA spokesperson on Justice Tertius Delport, says in a statement.

He says that the ANC at its policy conference rejected concerns that resulted in the withdrawal of the bill.

The bill was opposed to by the Judiciary and the legal profession in its present form as it weakens the independence of the judiciary.

It (the ANC) insisted that the Minister of Justice, and not the judiciary’s leadership, be responsible for making the rules of the court and administrating its budgets, said Delport.

He says that the ANC is set on controlling the judiciary, no matter the cost.

The Democratic Alliance has vowed to guard against interference with the independence of the judiciary and raised concern with the bill in its original form.