SOUTH AFRICA: In what may be the most serious clash between the judiciary and the government since the African National Congress came to power in South Africa nearly a decade ago, the judge-presidents of six of the seven provincial divisions of the High Court have accused the Minister of Justice of failing to defend the judiciary against "scurrilous attacks" on its independence and integrity.
The accusation, contained in a statement read out by the Judge President of Western Cape High Court, Mr John Hlophe, is a response to criticism of judges by a parliamentary committee for justice.
The judicial response to the committee's censure has in turn brought a swift rejoinder from the chairman of the parliamentary justice committee, Mr Johnny de Lange.
He labels the judicial statement "ill-informed and ill-considered" and hysterical.
"It is preposterous in the extreme to suggest that a parliamentary committee doing its work, and asking the questions it should ask, amounts to undermining the judiciary," Mr De Lange said.
He challenged the judges to name anyone in government, from the President downwards, who had interfered with or undermined the independence of the judiciary.
Judge Hlophe's statement said the committee's attacks ranged from accusations of incompetence against judges and magistrates to manipulation by the magistracy of its court work hours to enable magistrates to earn extra money from overtime.
Justice Minister Penuell Maduna is on record as warning judges against making political statements from "behind their judicial robes".
He has singled out Judge Edwin Cameron for criticising the government for its apparent reluctance to make anti-retroviral drugs freely available to people who are HIV positive or who are already living with AIDS.
Mr Cameron, who makes no secret of his homosexuality or his dependence on anti-retroviral drugs to treat the effects of AIDS, is a fierce critic of what he sees as the government's denial of the extent and severity of the depredations of AIDS in South Africa.