20120214
AFP
South African President Jacob Zuma, who has repeatedly butted heads with the judiciary, said in an interview published Monday he wants to review the powers of the country's highest court.

"We don't want to review the Constitutional Court, we want to review its powers," Zuma told The Star newspaper.

"It is after experience that some of the decisions are not decisions that every other judge in the Constitutional Court agrees with," he added.

Zuma has already locked horns with the Constitutional Court, which ruled last year the president could not unilaterally extend the term of then-chief justice Sandile Ngcobo.

Zuma responded by instead appointing Mogoeng Mogoeng, a judge criticised by opposition and activist groups as anti-gay, lenient on rapists and close to Zuma.

Created in 2004, the 11-judge court has the final say on constitutional matters.

"There are dissenting judgements which we read. You will find that the dissenting one has more logic than the one that enjoyed the majority. What do you do in that case? That's what has made the issue to become the issue of concern," Zuma said.

He said judges are "influenced by what's happening and influenced by you guys (the media)."

But he also said it was part of the democratic process for the courts to challenge his decisions.

The interview comes as Zuma's administration heads Wednesday to the Supreme Court of Appeal for arguments on whether prosecutors should have dropped corruption charges against him in 2009, a move that cleared his path to the presidency but has clouded his time in office.

South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, brought the case, questioning the constitutionality of the decision to drop charges that Zuma received bribes as part of a multi-billion-dollar arms deal.

The same court last year overturned Zuma's appointment of a national director of public prosecutions who was seen as an ally of the president but faced questions over his qualifications.

The Supreme Court of Appeal is the highest court for criminal matters.