Zuma: I strongly believe in independent judiciary

© Elena-Schweitzer – za.fotolia.com

He strongly believes in the independence of the judiciary, Zuma added.

His response to the meeting request was contained in a statement issued on Thursday morning, 9 July 2015.

"The Presidency has noted the request of the Chief Justice of the Republic, Honourable Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, to meet with President Jacob Zuma to discuss the concerns of the judiciary pertaining to relations between the Executive and the Judiciary arms of the State," the presidency said.

"The president will attend to the matter as soon as he returns from the BRICS Summit in Ufa, in the Russian Federation.

"The president wishes to reassert his own commitment and that of the Executive to the independence of the Judiciary and its role as the final arbiter in all disputes in society, as well as to the further strengthening of the existing good working relations between the two arms of the State."

Mogoeng addressed journalists in Johannesburg on Wednesday and hit back at the ANC's attacks on the judiciary.

He rejected claims that judges are being influenced to reach specific verdicts, saying he wanted to share his concerns about the allegations with Zuma.

"There have been suggestions that in certain cases... judges have been prompted to arrive at a predetermined result. This is a notion that we reject," Mogoeng said.

It was previously reported that Police Minister Nathi Nhleko told senior managers of the Independent Police Investigating Directorate that there were "interesting" elements in the judiciary who "meet with characters to produce certain judgments".

He did not mention any specific cases.

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, after an alliance summit last week, expressed concern about the judiciary interfering with the executive and the legislature, in what he termed "judicial overreach".

Source: News24