Ramaphosa to face new RET test – IRR
29 March 2022
A piece of legislation soon to cross the president’s desk gives South Africans a chance to see if Cyril Ramaphosa is aligned with the ANC’s Radical Economic Transformation faction – or the Constitution.
On Human Rights Day, KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala called for constitutional norms to be replaced by parliamentary majoritarianism. His comments are widely understood to espouse Radical Economic Transformation (RET), an ideology that is hostile to non-racialism, the separation of powers, and the Rule of Law.
But Premier Zikalala’s demand also represents a direct challenge to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s veto power, which comes from Section 79 of the Constitution and requires the president to not sign into power any law if he doubts its constitutionality.
In contrast, Mr Zikalala said ‘laws enacted by Parliament should be above all, and not reviewed by any organ” of state, which means trumping the President’s veto and the courts if they get in the way of unconstitutional RET demands.