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Now Mogoeng is a DA hero, says ANC

Chief Justice Mogeong Mogoeng. Picture Credit: Gallo Images
Chief Justice Mogeong Mogoeng. Picture Credit: Gallo Images

The Chief Justice has become a "hero" to opposition parties who initially criticised his appointment, members of the ANC in parliament said yesterday.

During the budget debate for the office of the Chief Justice, members from all opposition parties lauded the judiciary for its independence and its role in fighting corruption.

DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach said South Africans were left with "no choice than to rely on the judiciary to do the right thing", while the EFF's Mmabatho Mokause said it was "preventing our country from sliding into kleptocracy".

The IFP's Narend Singh said the judiciary and the office of the Chief Justice had proved to be the "vanguard" and the "final arbiter" against "prolific attacks on the rule of law" by those in power.

But the ANC's Bongani Bongo said the DA "does not like black people unless they act like them and speak like them" and that this was the case with Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.

"Now they are protecting him like no-one's business," he said.

Deputy Minister of Justice John Jeffery said: "It's interesting how the chief justice is now the hero. When he was appointed the DA said that he 'does not possess the outstanding legal skills required of a chief justice'."

Several opposition MPs raised concerns that the office of the Chief Justice, which is responsible for overseeing the judiciary, was not being adequately funded.

Justice Minister Michael Masutha announced that the office would be working with a budget of R1.785-billion in this financial year - with R920-million allocated to remuneration and benefits for judges and the remaining R864-million for operational costs.

MPs said that the office of the Chief Justice had told their committee that there would not be enough funding to get the Mpumalanga High Court, which is currently under construction, functional once it had been completed.

Masutha meanwhile lauded transformation in the judiciary, saying that of the 242 fully functional judges, 86 were women and 156 were black.

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