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Julius Malema has showered the judge with praises for displaying some independence in his case.
He said it was a sign that some judges remained “sober” even when the judiciary was “under attack” from the political arena.
Addressing the media outside the court after his case was struck off the roll by Judge Billy Mothle in the Northern Gauteng High Court sitting in Polokwane, the Economic Freedom Fighters leader said: “It is not an easy decision for a judge to rule against the state in favour of Malema especially when they are facing an attack from the ANC and its tripartite alliance.
Listen to Malema speak outside court
He thanked those who drafted the Constitution of South Africa, saying they “created three legs of the state” but that only one leg was holding it all together.
“The executive is compromised; it is dead. The legislature in the form of Parliament is compromised; it’s no more,” he said.
“We are left with the judiciary [which] is the only leg of the state that keeps it together [and] without the judiciary we will be in a banana republic today. The judges are refusing to be manipulated by the ruling party and they consider the matters before them all the time.”
Malema went on to thank Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng for “protecting our judiciary and continuing to ensure judges are not playing the political role”.
“Those who are playing a political role – a few of them – must be ashamed that majority of our judges continue to be sober,” he said.
“The state wanted postponement after postponement so that ... I [would] be a citizen with a permanent dark cloud over my head. The courts of South Africa are not meant for that [but] to ensure that everyone is protected and enjoys their rights as enshrined in the Constitution.”
