SPEECH: GUARDING FREEDOM
2015-05-21
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon and thank you for the invitation to share this lunch and a few ideas with you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon and thank you for the invitation to share this lunch and a few ideas with you.
The Centre for Constitutional Rights (the CFCR) notes with great concern and condemns the ongoing attacks on foreigners in South Africa – most recently in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
The Centre for Constitutional Rights (the CFCR) notes with great concern the events of 12 February 2015 surrounding the joint sitting of Parliament, and State of the Nation address.
On 4 February, 2015, the Centre for Constitutional Rights (the CFCR) and the School of Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University, with the financial support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), hosted the first event of the year in what will continue to be a series of constitutional discussions and public dialogue focused on good public leadership and the Constitution.
The Centre for Constitutional Rights (the CFCR) welcomes the North Gauteng High Court ruling which set aside the Minister of Police’s suspension of the Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) – the “Hawks” – as unlawful and invalid.
The Centre for Constitutional Rights (the CFCR) welcomes, in principle, a judgment delivered by the Constitutional Court in which it confirmed that the South African Police Service Act 68 of 1995 as amended (the Act), was still inconsistent with the constitutional obligation to create a structurally and operationally independent anti-corruption unit.
Recent events – both in Parliament and the public sphere – highlight the inherent tension in the Constitution, through the requirement that the Public Protector account to Parliament, while simultaneously requiring the Public Protector hold the same institution accountable.
The Public Protector has come under increased fire from some political parties, organisations and individuals for the manner in which she exercises the powers afforded to her by the Constitution. This criticism is unfounded – both in context of the Constitution as well as the Public Protector Act (the Act).
The Constitutional Court recently handed down judgment on the interpretation of law relating to the right to property in a manner consistent with the Constitution. The Court also underlined the importance of the rule of law as a founding value of the Constitution.