Transformation and independence of the judiciary in South Africa

This paper provides an analysis of the question on judicial independence in current day South Africa. Focusing on the issue of judicial independence and transformation, it discusses the justice bills and other matters on this topic, including the overall attitude of government and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) toward judicial independence.

• in the past twelve years, the transformation of the South African judiciary has progressed relatively rapidly at the same time, there are still major challenges to the transformation of the judiciary
• the call for immediate transformation to remedy the myriad problems left behind by apartheid have sometimes proved difficult to balance against the need to build and protect an independent and empowered judiciary
• when making interventions into the judiciary, the government must consider not only the content of the intervention but also the manner in which the intervention is carried out
  

The report concludes that while none of the recent events pose an insurmountable challenge to the judiciary independence, South Africans must continue to be aware of threats to judicial independence and prevent it from being undermined. Although some of the concerns that motivated the judicial bills are valid, independence is crucial and should not be sacrificed to achieve other, albeit valid and important, goals.