Constitutional Court yet again safeguards democracy

18 March 2016

The Zuma-Mbete duo has certainly kept the courts of our country busy. Their continuous failure to abide by the Constitution has been the reason for requesting judicial interventions. Opposition parties have had no choice but to drag the ANC to court on repeated occasions. In the latest contestation, the Constitutional Court found that the Speaker of the National Assembly could not order security forces to remove any parliamentarian causing a disturbance in the House.

Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga found in a majority decision that Section 11 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities, which allowed the Speaker to summon the police into the chamber, deprived MPs of that freedom of speech that was guaranteed in the Constitution. Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga was accompanied by Constitutional Court Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke and Justice Edwin Cameron when he handed down the judgment.

COPE very strongly supports the right of MPs to enjoy the full extent of their constitutionally guaranteed privilege of free speech. We readily accept, however, that no MP should incapacitate parliament through unruly behaviour. Baleka Mbete’s endeavor to erode a right established in the Constitution was defeated at the highest level..

It is highly gratifying to COPE that the Constitutional Court dismissed Speaker Mbete’s appeal with costs. This must show to the nation how arrogant and undemocratic the ANC has become. We accept the dictum that absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is only when the ANC loses increasing support at the polls, that citizens will begin to enjoy greater democratic, lawful and ethical governance. The dictatorial traits of the ruling party have had to be curtailed meanwhile through judicial means.

Our Constitutional Court is indeed playing a pivotal role in safeguarding our democracy. COPE wishes that there could have been an Economics Court where the splurging by Zuma on consumption side expenditure could also have been challenged to safeguard our economy and to afford protection to citizens..

Issued by Dennis Bloem, COPE Spokesperson, 18 March 2016