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We must defend our democratic laws

First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.
“Our democratic Constitution is the product of years of sacrifice and struggle. Many South Africans endured great pain and hardship, and many lost their lives, so that we could live in a democracy where all may enjoy equal rights. The values, principles and rights contained in the Constitution are neither trivial nor abstract.” – President Cyril Ramaphosa, President’s Newsletter, 22 February 2021.
Somewhere there is a photograph of the ANC’s Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Party’s chief negotiator, Roelf Meyer, taking a break during the constitutional negotiations, seemingly relaxed sans ties.
The picture belies the mammoth task with which they were engaged. It was essentially to make something out of nothing. For the Constitution represents South Africa’s attempt to overcome its past and deal with its present. Theirs was an unusual friendship forged around our transition to democracy and the drafting of a new Constitution. In between their shared love of fly-fishing, they got the job done. The Constitution itself bears testimony to the optimism of those early years of our democracy.

South-africa , Xuma , Eastern-cape , Pretoria , Gauteng , Madiba , North-west , Sudan , Nkandla , Kwazulu-natal , Sudanese , South-africans

How Zuma is using a populist playbook to assault democr...

“Let’s give former president Jacob Zuma time and space, people are counselling him, all of us need time to reflect and think. In life it is always best to think about matters carefully and deeply before coming to a rushed conclusion.” President Cyril Ramaphosa: Soweto, Friday, 5 February 2021.
The rule of law remains axiomatic to any functioning constitutional democracy.
One of the most defining moments of Nelson Mandela’s presidency was the moment he took the stand in the case of the
President of the RSA and Others v South African Rugby Football Union & Others in 1999.
In 1998, President Mandela appointed a commission to investigate allegations of racism, nepotism and corruption against Sarfu. Sarfu approached the court in order to stop the work of the commission. Judge William de Villiers saw fit to subpoena the president himself to give evidence as to why he ordered the probe. This sparked much debate about whether the president should have to defend his every decision in court. Mandela chose to do so in this case and was subjected to a lengthy cross-examination by Sarfu’s legal counsel, Advocate Mike Maritz SC. Justice De Villiers eventually ruled in favour of Sarfu, setting aside the government’s inquiry and called Mandela “an unsatisfactory witness”.

South-africa , Soweto , Gauteng , Xuma , Eastern-cape , Pretoria , Madiba , North-west , Sudan , Nkandla , Kwazulu-natal , Sudanese