BRICS first‚ then he’ll tackle the issue of an unhappy judiciary.

The Presidency‚ in a statement on Thursday‚ “noted the request of …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”.

This followed Wednesday’s call by senior judges to discuss the “general gratuitous criticism” of the judiciary by cabinet ministers and other politicians.

“The president will attend to the matter as soon as he returns from the BRICS summit in Ufa‚ in the Russian Federation‚” the Presidency statement said.

“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‚ on behalf of the judges‚ on Wednesday said that although judges‚ like everyone else‚ should be susceptible to constructive criticism‚ that criticism should be “specific and clear“.

He said the rule of law is the cornerstone of South Africa’s constitutional democracy and everyone is bound by the constitution and the law.

“As a nation we ignore it at our peril‚” he said.

The meeting followed recent criticism of the judiciary by African National Congress secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and SA Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande.

Police Minister Nathi Nhleko joined the chorus by saying “some elements of the judiciary meet with characters to produce certain judgments“.

The government recently disregarded a High Court order that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir be prevented from leaving South Africa after an African Union conference in Johannesburg.

Mantashe said some judges were against the state. He said there were concerns that judgments of certain High Court divisions consistently went against the state.

Nzimande said the courts had to respect parliament and the executive.

“If we don’t debate this we run the risk of parliament matters and executive matters being run by the courts‚” Nzimande said.

Mantashe on Wednesday welcomed the decision by the judges to call for a meeting with Zuma.

“It is a positive development because we are raising issues that we feel are of a serious nature. We will welcome that meeting‚ in fact‚ we will welcome a broader meeting‚ including a delegation of judges.”

The opposition Congress of the People (Cope) on Thursday welcomed the meeting as it said Mogoeng’s request would force Mantashe and Zuma’s executive to put up or shut up.

“By writing to the president‚ the chief justice will compel him to adduce evidence that judges are arriving at predetermined results in order simply to discredit the government‚” said Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem.

“If he cannot produce such evidence then he should demand that his ministers and [Mantashe] curb their tongues and show the judiciary the respect it rightly deserves.”