South Africa Resolves Rift Between Executive, Judiciary

South Africa's executive branch of government and the judiciary resolved their tensions late Thursday with both agreeing to respect each other's independence.



President Jacob Zuma met with top judges and cabinet ministers in Pretoria to resolve the mistrust between the two branches of government, which was created after some officials made public utterances accusing some judges of bias.



 "The meeting was characterized by a frank and cordial exchange of views conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect," President Jacob Zuma, who chaired the meeting, told reporters in Pretoria late Thursday.



The meeting was requested by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mongoeng to discuss attacks on courts by some government officials and members of the ruling party.



Last month, Gwede Mantashe, secretary general of the ruling African National Congress Party (ANC), accused some courts and judges of having a negative attitude toward the government.



His comments came after a Pretoria high court had ordered the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, who was in the country attending the African Union summit.  



Although the court had issued an interim order stopping Bashir from leaving the country, he defied it and flew back to Khartoum.



The judiciary was not impressed with their government for failing to respect the court order of its institution and failing to arrest Bashir.



Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on allegations of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan's Darfur region. - Güney Afrika