The FW de Klerk Foundation wants government to take “immediate and effective” steps to carry out its responsibility in terms of Section 165(4) of the Constitution to protect the country’s judges and magistrates.

The foundation stated that ensuring the safety of the country’s judges and magistrates was "imperative".

“Failure to protect them will have a direct and detrimental impact on South Africa as a whole as the rule of law deteriorates and more instances of mob justice and abuse of State power take hold,” it said.

The foundation pointed out that the rule of law was one of the Constitution’s founding values.

“It depends on a judicial authority that is subject only to the Constitution, which it must apply impartially and without fear, favour or prejudice. To achieve this, the State is required by Section 165(4) of the Constitution to “protect the courts” and to ensure their independence, impartiality, dignity, accessibility and effectiveness,” it  added.

The foundation said it was disturbing to learn, from a recent survey of the Democratic Governance and Rights Unit at the University of Cape Town, that one-third of magistrates were threatened or harmed in 2021/22, with some reporting they had experienced such threats multiple times.

The foundation explained that the country depended on a secure and respected judiciary for the protection of basic individual rights – the most significant of which were enshrined as justiciable rights in the Bill of Rights – saying without it, things would very quickly fall apart.

“People take the law into their own hands – as they did in Ekurhuleni, where four technicians responding to an electricity outage were tragically murdered by an angry mob who mistook them for cable thieves,” the foundation said.

It noted that without the rule of law and a strong and independent judiciary, State officials “think they can abuse their power with impunity as they did in July 2023”, when members of Deputy President Paul Mashatile's security detail brutally assaulted members of the public.

The foundation explained that it was gratifying that the victims had now gone to a civil court to enforce their rights and claim damages from their assailants.

The criminal prosecution of the security detail members for assault has been rescheduled for May, the foundation said, reiterating that this shows, once again, how important a strong and secure judiciary was in the protection of rights.