The judiciary is a cornerstone of our constitutional democracy and, even during the dark days of state capture, it remained the one institution that the South African public continued to put its trust in.
There had been many attempts to undermine its integrity and authority, especially by those whose corrupt desires were frustrated by the judiciary’s insistence for the rule of law.
Such attempts included top jurists being unfairly accused of being on the take, just because they made rulings that did not favour certain interest groups or powerful individuals.
In many of these cases, not a shred of evidence was presented, but the allegations would be repeated many times in the hope that they would have the desired effect of having the public doubting the integrity of our courts.
It is within this context that the arrest of Pretoria judge Portia Phahlane on allegations of corruption should be of grave concern to all South Africans.
As chief justice Mandisa Maya accurately put it in her statement following the arrest, it comes at a time when public confidence in the courts is already under strain.
This is largely because among the claims made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in July was that members of the judiciary were being influenced to make certain rulings through money.
At the time that the general made the claim, Maya and the legal profession demanded that Mkhwanazi produce evidence of this, warning that making general accusations would have the effect of all judges being painted with the same brush.
Now, to many, Phahlane’s arrest — though not linked to what Mkhwanazi was talking about — vindicates the general.
However, we agree with Maya that instead of seeing the arrest as “proof” that “our judges are corrupt”, the incident should be regarded as demonstrating that the country’s law enforcement agencies operate without fear or favour.
It shows that, indeed, no-one is above the law.
We also welcome the chief justice’s swift action to suspend the judge as this will safeguard the integrity of our courts while allowing Phahlane time to defend herself in a court of law.
The Herald
