'Judiciary playing into political space' - Mantashe slams ruling

The judiciary is playing into the political space, setting a bad precedent, says ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe.

Mantashe told Sowetan yesterday that the judiciary was tampering with the powers of the executive following Judge Bashir Vally's ruling ordering President Jacob Zuma to disclose reasons for firing Pravin Gordhan as finance minister.

"We are embarrassed by the fact that the judiciary is playing into the political space," he said.

"We can celebrate it now but when the new president gets elected the judiciary would want to know how he appointed or reshuffled his cabinet."

Vally ruled that the decision to fire Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas caused a great deal of consternation for much of the populace. "It is not exaggeration to say that it was received with shock, alarm and dismay by many."

Vally noted that one reason for this is that it came on the heels of extensive public complaint of incessant malversation embedded in our public life and that the country was mired in corruption.

"The minister of finance and deputy minister of finance perform important functions that, among others, involve the control of the public purse."

The DA asked the court to order Zuma to provide a record of reasons for the reshuffle. Zuma has until tomorrow to hand over documents, including the "dubious intelligence report" that led to his decision . The DA' s James Selfe said the axing had a cataclysmic effect on the economy and country.