EFF to ask SAPS, public protector to probe Gordhan over Mogoengâs claims
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Johannesburg: The EFF says it will open a corruption case against Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan after he allegedly questioned Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng on his friend s performance for a Constitutional Court position.
Mogoeng revealed during the Judicial Service Commission s (JSC) interview session on Tuesday that Gordhan had approached him for a meeting a few years ago to discuss matters he could not recall .
The chief justice said, in passing, Gordhan asked him how his friend, KwaZulu-Natal High Court judge Dhaya Pillay, had done in the interview for a position at the Constitutional Court.
It should not be surprising to anyone that politicians and judges in our society know one another. What matters is how these relationships are managed and whether any court rulings are affected by these relationships.
For the moment, there is no evidence that any ruling has been affected by such a relationship in the recent past.
There is a reason why Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviews often reveal such important developments, and why they become the subject of conversation.
There is perhaps a general perception that judges and politicians do not interact, that they mind their own lanes and deal with their own issues. In the case of judges, there is a legal obligation not to get involved in any political controversy; it is for this reason that their public statements outside of their judgments are usually so circumspect (although there is an odd exception).
Gordhan hits back at allegations that he tried to influence Chief Justice Mogoeng
By Ntombi Nkosi
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Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan has denied ever influencing Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng saying he respects his independence.
In a statement released promptly a day after revelations emerged that he had discussed judicial matters with Mogoeng including asking the Chief Justice about the performance of his friend, KZN Judge Dhaya Pillay on the JSC interviews, Gordhan said: I have only ever engaged the Chief Justice in my official, professional capacity on several occasions, regarding matters such as:
“Recommendations of the Commission on the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers, at a time when the fiscus was constrained due to the impact of the global financial crisis; a courtesy, on the appointment of retired judges to perform certain functions (for example, on the appointment of retired Judge Ngoepe as the Tax Ombud); the separation of the budget of the judicia
Pravin Gordhan explains meeting with CJ Mogoeng Mogoeng
Pravin Gordhan has denied insinuations that he tried to influence the appointment of his friend, Judge Dhaya Pillay to the Supreme Court of Appeal, by setting up a meeting with Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan is clearing the air after Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng that he had approached him to ask how “his close friend” judge Dhaya Pillay had fared after she had completing an interview for a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2016. Pillay failed to make the cut, in her bid for the post.