What the MK party did when it nominated Dr John Hlophe as its representative on the Judicial Service Commission was to give its voters what they wanted: defiance, contempt and chaos. The nomination was not only politically astute, it was (from an MK perspective) entirely rational.
The decision by the National Assembly to endorse the
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Reasons why the GNU might end up as an exhibit in Zagreb’s Museum of Broken Relationships
If the agreement between the ANC and the DA requiring ‘sufficient consensus’ for GNU decisions holds, it would make it impossible for the ANC to implement new policies or table new legislation without DA approval. This suggests that for as long as the agreement holds, any radical policy changes will remain unlikely.
The fantastic Museum…
Zuma’s MK party may be litigiously backing itself into corner with doomed urgent application
The election of the President will not be derailed by the urgent application lodged with the Constitutional Court on Tuesday by the MK party.
The National Assembly will convene for the first time on Friday morning to elect a Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and the President after those members elected to the Assembly and present have…
No, a political party cannot sabotage the election of the President by refusing to participate in the election of the President by the National Assembly
With the ANC now holding only 159 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly, and assuming that the 87 DA MPs will not support a presidential candidate put forward by the EFF or MK, three possible scenarios could play out in the coming weeks. But what is clear, is that a political party cannot sabotage…
The IEC is not perfect, but beware of bad faith attacks aimed at discrediting the election
While the IEC deserves to be scrutinised and held to account for any stuff ups, it is important to keep a sense of perspective about any IEC administrative cock-ups, and not to overreact to small problems that the IEC is working in good faith to fix
It will be a relief when the national election…
Why the ConCourt is not the appropriate body to resolve policy disagreements about the NHI Act
The Constitution does not and should not prevent the democratically elected government from passing laws merely because an economically powerful minority opposes it.
It is inevitable that the constitutionality of aspects of the National Health Insurance Act will be challenged in court and that the Constitutional Court will have to consider these challenges. We do…
Zuma MK party representation may be critical for votes but push for ConCourt judges’ recusal probably a dead end
Jacob Zuma needs potential MK voters to believe that if they vote for the party, they are voting for him to become an MP and perhaps President. If the Court rules against Zuma before the election and it becomes clear that he cannot take up a seat in the Assembly, it might make potential MK…
The slippery path to a stable coalition government
If recent opinion polls are to be believed, no political party will win an outright majority of National Assembly seats in the 29 May elections.
If no party wins an outright majority on voting day, it will complicate the process of forming a new government given that neither the Constitution nor legislation contains detailed provisions…
Be wary of political parties that undermine our democracy with unsubstantiated attacks on the IEC
It is worrying that there are increasingly desperate and shrill attempts to undermine the legitimacy of the IEC by making unsubstantiated and spurious allegations to raise public suspicion about its impartiality and honesty.
The decision by the Electoral Court to overturn the decision by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) that Jacob Zuma was…
Retaining Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as Speaker is not a legal matter, but a political choice
Whether Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula remains Speaker of the National Assembly is not a legal matter. Neither is it a matter of the application of the ANC’s step-aside rule, as that rule applies to stepping aside from party activities. As with all the previous ANC decisions to replace the Speaker, this is a purely political decision that…