Wyndham Hartley
12 November 2009
Cape Town — The judiciary, the executive and the legislature came together in an historic joint sitting of Parliament yesterday to bid farewell to retiring Chief Justice Pius Langa and welcome his successor, Sandile Ngcobo.
It was the first time in the 15 years of democracy that all three arms of the state addressed a joint sitting of the national legislature.
The sitting was called by President Jacob Zuma and was addressed by him, all party leaders and both Langa and Ngcobo in a debate concluded by Justice Minister Jeff Radebe .
Zuma moved to reaffirm his administration's respect for the judiciary and its independence. This follows tension between the judiciary and the executive over draft legislation that sought to place full administrative control of the courts in the hands of the minister. The legislation was criticised as being an invasion of judicial independence.
"It is rare that we have an opportunity for members of all three arms of government to address this house," Zuma said.
"This is an indication of the importance that we attach to this moment in the life of our democracy. It is also an indication of the critical role of the judiciary as a pillar of our constitutional order."
He said that while the transformation of the judiciary still remained a challenge, "this struggle must further entrench the independence of the judiciary, for which so many of our people fought. We must realise the right of equal access to justice for all South Africans ."
Langa said the meeting of the three arms of the state was an acknowledgment by each arm of the others. Ngcobo said that respect for the other branches of the state was something that underlined his judicial philosophy but stressed that the courts must not only be independent and effective, but must "be seen to be independent and effective" to all the people of SA.
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