Zille said since 55 percent of judges were black, racial diversification of the judiciary was on track.

There was therefore no need to take unprecedented steps to hasten transformation as Justice Minister Jeff Radebe did when he delayed the Judicial Services Commission's (JSC) interviews for judicial appointments this week.

"Racial diversification of the bench is proceeding apace. Ironically, though, the ANC is driving its 'transformation' agenda harder than ever before," she wrote in her weekly newsletter.

"The reason, again, is that the ANC is not actually arguing for a more racially diverse bench.

"It wants a bench that is subservient to the racial ideology, policies and political control of the party-state."

Zille described Radebe's intervention was "a cynical attempt by the ANC to influence the appointment of judges".

"If the executive is allowed to interfere directly in the process of shortlisting candidates for the bench and in the systems and structures of the JSC, the very purpose of an independent judiciary is undermined."

Zille said the party's true intentions were evident when it rebuked Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke for reportedly saying: "It's not what the ANC wants or what the delegates [to Polokwane] want; it is about what is good for our people".

If the ANC had its way, she said, it would handpick its judges like the old National Party did, "rendering the most important safeguard of our rights subject to political manipulation by the ruling party".

President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday tried in his reply to the debate on his state of the nation address to quell concerns that the state was seeking to undermine the independence of the judiciary .

Zuma, who escaped corruption charges because of alleged political meddling in his case, told MPs that the bench needed to reflect the demographics of South Africa, but that transformation was also about an accessible court system served by judges steeped in the values of the Constitution.

Sapa

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