President Cyril Ramaphosa is encouraged that the presiding officers of Parliament and Chief Justice Raymond Zondo are meeting to resolve their differences.
Judge Zondo had accused parliament of failing to act on the recommendations of his state capture reports.
Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and National Council of Provinces chairperson Amos Masondo requested an urgent meeting with Zondo.
The meeting is taking place at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya said the three arms of state have a cooperative working relationship.
Magwenya said issues of concern must be addressed constructively by any of the three arms of state.
There was a constitutional principle of separation of powers between the three arms of state.
However, where they need to work together they must do so in the spirit of cooperation.
“We certainly hope in the spirit of cooperation or rather that the spirit of cooperation will continue to guide the manner in which these three arms of state engage with each other, more especially when there are issues of concern that require constructive engagement and resolution.
“I have just been informed that there is a meeting scheduled between the Chief Justice and the Speaker. That is encouraging. That talks to the kind of cooperation that is envisaged by the constitution with respect to how these independent arms of state interact with one another,” said Magwenya.
He said on the side of the president’s implementation of the Zondo recommendations, he will announce the details in a few months to mark a year since he submitted his implementation plan to parliament.
But Magwenya said there was already progress made in relation to arrests made by the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigative Directorate.
He said some of the state capture cases are already in court.
But they are working on the reforms to improve the capacity of the state to deal with corruption and state capture cases, said Magwenya.
“We will be able in a few months time, which will mark a year since the president presented the implementation plan of these recommendations, to provide more details,” said Magwenya.
But he said Ramaphosa was satisfied with the level of progress.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics