Civil society project Judges Matter has called on EFF President Julius Malema to retract the utterances he made against an Eastern Cape Magistrate.
Malema has accused Magistrate Twanet Olivier of the East London Magistrates Court of corruption and incompetence and dubbed her a racist.
This after Olivier dismissed the Section 174 discharge application in the firearms trial against Malema and his bodyguard, Adriaan Snyman, last week.
Malema and Snyman were charged with six counts of contravening the Firearms Control Act - after a video emerged of Malema allegedly firing what appears to be an automatic rifle at the party’s fifth celebrations in Mdantsane in 2018.
In a statement, Judges Matter said Malema's comments are an attack on the judiciary, a threat to judicial independence, and almost certainly a violation of the Constitution.
They said none of Malema's claims had been substantiated.
"Mr Malema accused Magistrate Olivier of wrongdoing in how she prepared and delivered her judgment.
"None of his claims were substantiated, nor did he offer any evidence to corroborate them. Notably, Mr Malema said nothing about the legal merits of the judgment.
"It’s therefore hard to see Mr Malema’s utterances as anything but an attack on Magistrate Olivier as a judicial officer, and the institution of the judiciary," the Watchdog said in a statement.
According to Judges Matter, this was not the first attack against Olivier, following a similar outburst after she dismissed Malema's recusal application in February this year.
"Mr Malema, as a member of Parliament, has sworn an oath to protect and promote the Constitution.
"He has a legal, ethical, and constitutional duty, in terms of section 165(4) of the Constitution, to take all measures to protect the judiciary.
"Furthermore, section 165(3) prohibits anyone, through their words or actions, from interfering with the judiciary in any way."
They further said that Malema, who has served as a commissioner on the Judicial Service Commission for almost 10 years, should be well aware of this.
