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ARTICLE: IS THE CONSTITUTION IN JEOPARDY AFTER THE ANC’S 5TH POLICY CONFERENCE?*

2017-07-14

DAILY MAVERICK NDZ CR optThe chairs and tables have been packed away, the delegates are home and the myriad of reports of the ANC’s 5th Policy Conference are at Luthuli House for editing, publication and, in due course, for sending to regions and branches countrywide for discussion. The final policy decisions will be made in December, at the Elective Conference.

It is important to consider whether, from the verbal feedback and media reports, the Constitution is in jeopardy after the Policy Conference. What must be taken into account is that this Policy Conference was less about policy and more about the fierce leadership struggle between the delegates backing Mrs Zuma (“NDZ”) and Cyril Ramaphosa (“CR17”).

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ARTICLE: MAJORITY OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN BREACH OF THE CONSTITUTION

2017-06-29

CONSTITUTIONS OPT

Section 152 of the Constitution describes the objectives of local government as providing democratic and accountable government, ensuring the provision of services, promoting social and economic development, and promoting a safe and healthy environment. Section 195 offers a set of basic values and principles governing public administration, amongst these a high standard of professional ethics, the effective use of resources, and accountability.

The most recently-released Report by the Auditor-General (AG) on the local government sector paints a bleak, and in many instances, deteriorating picture of the state of financial management and oversight, one that is wholly inconsistent with the laudable and enforceable principles of the Constitution. This comes after 23 years of democratic government and repeated appeals by the AG to local politicians and officials to get their house in order. Local government is the lens through which ordinary South Africans experience constitutional guarantees – and failure of local government erodes public trust in the constitutional state.

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ARTICLE: OVER TO YOU, DEPUTY PRESIDENT… OR RESISTANCE AND CAPTURE IN SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICS

2017-05-26

sa concourt flag foter

A damning report has been compiled by well-respected academics and a seasoned investigative reporter. The word “coup” features prominently. The report titled The Betrayal of the Promise: How South Africa is being Stolen provides factual information and draws linkages between a powerful political elite and business individuals. It reveals a toxic cocktail of patronage and corruption, all the while seriously undermining the constitutional state. Its biggest takeaway: State institutions are being repurposed to the detriment of all South Africans.

The Report follows hot on the heels of another released last week by the South African Council of Churches (SACC). The SACC’s report too, references statements from current and former government employees on how individuals closely linked to the highest office in the land have gained control of some state-owned entities.

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ARTICLE: FREEDOM DAY – IS THERE ANYTHING TO CELEBRATE?

2017-04-26

sa flag foter

As with other historical events, many South Africans still remember 27 April 1994 very well. A day of long voting queues and goodwill, the feeling of a new beginning. It was the birth of the “New South Africa”.

After that, many Freedom Days followed. Numerous South Africans, especially those who experienced 1994, will regard this year’s Freedom Day as the lowest point of all Freedom Days.

Why? Because we see what is happening to us in the political, economic and social arena. There is great tension in the ruling party – about the current President, but also in the leadership struggle for a new President. There is talk of corruption and state capture by government leaders and officials. We see the economy stagnate and that our country’s financial system has basically been downgraded to junk status. We experience racial tension and an apparent total lack of reconciliation and shared values.

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ARTICLE: SOCIAL COHESION IN CONTEMPORARY SOUTH AFRICA

2017-04-06

As South Africans mourn the death of a great leader in Ahmed Kathrada, the broadest consensus on both social media and the mainstream, was one that expressed bereavement for a towering man who had lived through the worst of times and the best of times but died a sad man.

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ARTICLE: DIMINISHING THE POWER OF DISCRIMINATION

2017-03-20

The killing of 69 unarmed people in Sharpeville, South Africa, protesting apartheid pass laws on 21 March 1960, stirred the conscience of the world and saw the United Nations General Assembly adopt a Resolution to declare the day International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 1966.

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ARTICLE: THE LAND QUESTION – BLACK UNITY AND NO COMPENSATION OR NON-RACIALISM AND CONSTITUTIONALISM?

2017-03-10

landscape optIn his State of the Nation (SONA) appearance, President Zuma said “we had stated our intention of using the Expropriation Act, 1975 (Act 63 of 1975) to pursue land reform and land redistribution, in line with the Constitution” (my emphasis).

In debating this, the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Gugile Nkwinti, on 14 February, said that the Government will undertake a pre-colonial audit of land ownership and “(o)nce the audit has been completed, a single law should be developed to address the issue of land restitution without compensation. The necessary constitutional amendments should be undertaken to effect this process”.

At the launch of Operation Phakisa’s agriculture, land reform and rural development leg on 24 February, Zuma asked the following rhetorical (and nonsensical) question: “How are we going to achieve all the goals mentioned in the State of the Nation Address and all the laws and policies that we are busy amending to enable faster land reform, including land expropriation without compensation as provided for in the Constitution” (my emphasis). On 3 March, in his official opening of National House of Traditional Leaders, the President repeated the Nkwinti statement almost verbatim. Land reform “in line with the Constitution” has quickly become “land restitution without compensation”.

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ARTICLE: SASSA – MUDDLING THROUGH AS THE POOR WAIT

2017-03-09

CONCOURT FOTER optThe last few days have witnessed a SASSA fiasco on an unprecedented scale. Outright lies, half-truths, resignation of key personnel and a fumbling, rumbling and grumbling Minister trying to save herself – and not the almost 17 million grant beneficiaries – was the order.

Wide media coverage delivering blow-by-blow accounts of the unfolding crisis has elicited outrage, yet President Zuma has the temerity to ask Ministers and their spokespersons to stop talking about social grants. In an interview from Jakarta, Indonesia, he said, “I think Ministers should stop talking, including their spokespersons. I think the point has been made. The less we talk, the better”. He added in response to public outrage and a call for Minister Bathabile Dlamini to be sacked that, “there are people speaking as if the date has come and passed and that the Department has failed and the Minister has failed. But the date has not come”. President Zuma, unlike the almost 17 million grant beneficiaries, is assured of where his next meal will come from. He is assured – as is evidenced by the State Capture Report – of wealth accumulated for himself and his family, but a key voting bloc remains in limbo.

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