Raulinga defends his judicial independence amid MK Party complaint

Retired Judge Takalani Raulinga has defended his judicial independence, stating that his political affiliations prior to joining the judiciary had no bearing on his job.

The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) lodged a formal complaint with Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi over his appointment as the Independent Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) oversight judge.

The party argues that Raulinga’s past political association with the African National Congress (ANC) and his friendship with President Cyril Ramaphosa raise legitimate concerns about bias.

“There’s never been a time when anybody raised any doubt that I am impartial in all the matters that I’ve done. I’ve written about 140 judgments. In all those judgments, nobody said I am biased, or neither was I found guilty by the Judicial Service Commission for being biased, or anybody reported that because of my close proximity, I didn’t deal with a matter properly. Besides due to my training, I can actually be above those issues. I would know how to be impartial due to my training.”

Raulinga has previously denied having a close relationship with the president and says his ANC membership was terminated many years ago.

“Even before I became a judge, I declared that I was a member of the ANC. And when I realised that I was acting judge and I was going to be appointed, then I relinquished my membership with the ANC, long ago, many years ago. Now with the issue of my proximity to the president, I became a judge before the president was even deputy president of this country. So when I realised that happened in 2014, I then decided to make sure that there is no close proximity between me and the deputy president then. And I can tell you the president and I don’t have close proximity. We don’t meet,” adds Raulinga.

Speaking during a media briefing on Sunday, Raulinga said he is not concerned about IDAC’s reputation, stressing that the institution cannot be brought down by one individual and that no one has been found guilty of any wrongdoing.