Letters

RW Johnson knows better that to uncritically parrot the propaganda of the African National Congress president Jacob Zuma camp, that the highest courts are part of a conspiracy against Zuma (Courts and counter-revolutions, July 16). Without a shred of evidence, he makes these outrageous claims:

* The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has "not been above" the "(President Thabo) Mbeki conspiracy" against Zuma; and

* The SCA judges who heard the Schabir Shaik appeals did not read the transcript of his trial.

After accepting that in their assets forfeiture judgment they incorrectly attributed the description of the relationship between Shaik and Zuma as being "generally corrupt" to Squires J, the SCA judges explained through a public statement that the description was entirely consistent with Squires J's findings and was supported by the trial record. Squires J found that there was a "mutually beneficial symbiosis" between Shaik and Zuma.

In view of their detailed judgment, which includes a careful analysis of the evidence, it is preposterous to state that the judges did not read the record. The misattribution, a sloppy mistake but no more than that, was in relation to the judgment and not the record, and is completely irrelevant to the conclusion reached ­ a conclusion which has subsequently been upheld by the Constitutional Court.

Judicial credibility is not only a precious commodity, it is easily squandered. Once lost it is nearly impossible to retrieve. By joining with Julius Malema, Gwede Mantashe and others in trampling on the judiciary, Johnson fans the flames licking at our hard-won freedoms.

Since judges, rightly, cannot defend themselves by joining the public debate, those who publicly criticise judges must do so on the basis of fact, not conjecture, prejudice and hyperbole. Johnson knows this, but contemptuously does the opposite.

Angus Stewart SC
Durban

With acknowledgements to Angus Stewart and Business Day.