Recent “unwarranted and malicious attacks” on judges is “reckless and irresponsible political behaviour deserving of a sharp rebuke from President Jacob Zuma‚ the Congress of the People (Cope) said.

“Tragically‚ this is not forthcoming‚” the party’s spokesperson‚ Dennis Bloem‚ said on Monday.

He said that the African National Congress (ANC)‚ South African Communist Party (SACP) and African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) are “banding together to accuse the country’s judges of bias and partiality without any substantiation whatsoever”.

He singled out SACP second secretary Solly Mapaila‚ who said at the weekend that his party would embark on mass action to protest against a judiciary that was not “impartial” and “not alive to the context of and interests of the country”.

Mapaila’s remarks‚ said Bloem‚ echoed ANC secretary-general Gwede Manthase’s criticism of judges that he believed were bent towards making rulings against government and the ruling party.

These comments followed the court rebuke of government after it ignored an order to prevent Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir leaving the country and effecting his arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant for alleged war crimes.

“What is‚ however‚ very shocking is the total silence of the president on the criticism of the judges‚” said Bloem.

“He is offering absolutely no leadership. His silence is a condonation of their wild and abusive statements aimed at the judges. All of the anti-democrats in the ruling party are once again coming together to attack the rule of law and the president says nothing.”

Bloem said Zuma is too afraid to speak out “because his supporters will remind him about their mobilising thousands” when he faced a rape charge and more than 700 charges of corruption.

“Cope wants to challenge president Zuma to come out of the closet and to condemn the malicious and unwarranted attacks on our judges by leaders in the ruling party‚” said Bloem.