CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS
ARTICLES AND STATEMENTS
PODCASTS
SUBMISSIONS
SPEECHES
EVENTS
ARTICLE: RADICAL ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION
Earlier this week Nkosazana Zuma, odds on favorite to become our next president, assured whites that they have nothing to fear from Radical Economic Transformation (RET) “because if it doesn’t happen peace cannot be guaranteed in the country.” What is this “radical economic transformation” that her former husband, President Zuma, refers to in virtually every major speech – and where does it come from?
RET’s origins may be found deep in the ANC’s Marxist-rooted National Democratic Revolution ideology which has as its core goal “the resolution of the national grievance arising from colonialism and apartheid”.
The ANC believes that although it achieved political liberation in 1994, it has not yet achieved economic liberation because – as President Zuma incorrectly insists – the economy is still controlled by “white males”.
ARTICLE: WHITHER CRIME INTELLIGENCE?
South Africa, like virtually all countries in the world, maintains a domestic intelligence service. The Constitution as such empowers intelligence services, including those of the defence force and the South African Police Service (SAPS). To this end, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), in accordance with the South African Police Service Act (SAPS Act) establishes a crime intelligence division whose mandate is “to gather, correlate, evaluate and analyse domestic intelligence, in order to identify any threat or potential threat to the security of the Republic or its people…”
Yet consider that the previous head of Crime Intelligence, Mulangi Mphego, was forced to resign in 2009, after he was accused of interfering with state witnesses in the corruption case against former National Police Commissioner, Jackie Selebi. Mphego’s successor, Richard Mdluli, was suspended in May 2011. This, after being arrested on a number of criminal charges, including murder, attempted murder, intimidation, kidnapping, assault and defeating the ends of justice. Major-General King Bhoyi Ngcobo featured briefly as acting crime intelligence head, post Mdluli.
ARTICLE: THE DISCORD BETWEEN HATE SPEECH LEGISLATION AND THE CONSTITUTION
The Qwelane and the Huffington Post matters – still none the clearer
In the last week, two significant rulings were made regarding the boundaries of hate speech in terms of the Constitution, and whether legislation prohibiting hate speech oversteps constitutional boundaries. Considering the enthusiasm by the State to criminalise hate speech in the controversial Prevention and Combatting of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill, it is crucial to consider the impact of these two rulings.
CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES
- Equality
- Non-racialism
- Gender Rights
- The Constitution
- The Rule of Law
- Multiparty Democracy
- Personal Rights
- Cultural, Religious and Language Rights
- Freedom of Expression and Political Rights
- Social and Economic Rights
- Property Rights
- Education
- Access To The Courts, Information And Fair Adminstration