The judicialisation of the parliamentary inquiry into the impeachment of suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has allowed Mkhwebane and her lawyers to engage in ever more farcical attempts to delay, and ultimately to delegitimise, the entire process.
Last week, advocate Dali Mpofu abandoned the parliamentary inquiry into the impeachment of his client, suspended Public Protector
Constitutionally Speaking
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On the recent Con Court eviction judgment: knowing the price of everything, and the value of nothing
A recent Constitutional Court judgement authorising the eviction of an 85 year old women and her disabled son from a dwelling she has lived in for 75 years, raises important questions about the nature of (in)justice and the ability of courts to undo it.
You have probably never heard of Mrs Clara Phillips and her son Adam…
Small parties, big influence: What can be done about unstable coalition governments?
The instability of many coalition and minority governments formed at the local level after the 2021 municipal elections may well be replicated in the other spheres of government if no party wins an overall majority in the National Assembly, or in some provincial legislatures, at the next election. Reducing the number of tiny parties represented…
Push for devolution of Western Cape policing powers may have pragmatic footing but may run into legal trouble
The newly formed ‘Western Cape Devolution Working Group’ will face considerable political as well as legal hurdles. The fact that some political parties and ‘civic organisations’ who form part of this group are tainted by racism or led by cranks will not help.
Earlier this week, it was announced that a “Western Cape Devolution Working…
Political campaign donations – merely changing the ethics code to force disclosure won’t cut it
Requiring members of the executive (including the President) to disclose any donations made to their campaigns for positions within political parties, is a welcome but inadequate step to deal with the corrosive effects of money on our democracy.
Had someone not leaked information that the CR17 campaign, created to run President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2017 campaign…
Why the High Court was wrong to overturn Mkhwebane’s suspension on the ground that the President was biased
Courts run the risk of breaching the separation of powers when they invalidate a rationally made decision of the President because of a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the President.
Last week, a Full Bench of the Western Cape High Court, in The Public Protector of South Africa v The Speaker of …
It can be dangerous when national security is used as a cover to dodge accountability
While both suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and EFF MP Floyd Shivambu are in trouble for the way they handled the top secret report of the then Inspector-General of Intelligence into the so-called SARS ‘rogue unit’, the drama also raises critical questions about the culture of secrecy that shields the intelligence service and the Inspector-General…
AfriForum should consider introspection after losing ‘Kill the Boer’ hate speech case against EFF
Predictably, the judgment of the Gauteng Division of the Equality Court handed down last week, dismissing an application by AfriForum to declare that the words of the song Kiss/Kill the Boer constituted hate speech — and to interdict Julius Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters from singing the song at any private or public meeting…
Khayelitsha policing collapse the result of ‘catastrophic’ and ‘unconscionable’ political and judicial failure
Despite concerted efforts by civic society organisations over almost 20 years, police in the Khayelitsha area remain understaffed because of a catastrophic failure of the national government and the failure of the high court to finalise a case. This is the reality that needs to be considered when looking at the government’s failures — not…
Ramaphosa impeachment unlikely, but process may shine light into murky Phala Phala waters
It would be naïve to think that the motion for the impeachment of President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead to his removal from office. For as long as he remains president of the ANC, most ANC MPs will not support such a motion.
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula last week announced that a motion by the…