Five steps Jacob Zuma must take to uphold constitutional democracy

Jacob Zuma promised to uphold constitutional democracy when he was elected President by the National Assembly on Wednesday. It is a promise to which the DA will hold him.

We appreciate Zuma's undertaking to start a new chapter in relations between the government and the opposition. His pledge that the new executive will avoid being over-defensive, and that it will "not view all criticism from the opposition in a negative light" suggests a welcome shift in attitude and approach.  We hope his deeds match his words.

For its part, the 77-strong DA caucus in Parliament will engage with the executive in a professional manner. We will always act within the Constitution, the law, and the rules.  We will not be adversarial for the sake of being adversarial. But we will be robust in opposing that which is bad for the country, and presenting the alternative that we offer in the interests of the country.

Far too many analysts and commentators are still embarrassed by the concept and practice of a tough, muscular opposition. They concur with those "opposition" parties that pursue the politics of ingratiation - because this makes them popular with the powerful.  When opposition parties succumb to the temptation of being popular with the governing party, instead of fearlessly representing their voters, these parties wither and die.  The changing opposition landscape in South Africa over the past 15 years is the clearest example of this process.  Those parties that opted to feed steak to the ANC crocodile in the hope that it would become a vegetarian are now being gobbled up themselves.  We took a different approach.  And it is precisely because we understand and represent the growing numbers of opposition voters in South Africa that the DA caucus has grown from 7 to 77.  We will work hard to grow more as the ANC's internal conflict and poor governance continue.

The role of the parliamentary opposition is to ask the difficult questions; to expose corruption and mismanagement; to hold government to account; to think ahead and to present alternatives on all policy issues. And the DA will continue to perform that role, to even greater effect now that we have 20 more MPs than we had in the last Parliament.

Above all, we will carry on with the most important task of an opposition party in South Africa today, which is to provide a rallying point for all those who understand that defending the Constitution and limiting the ANC's power abuse is the greatest political imperative our country faces.  Indeed, we will not be able to address our greatest social challenges, such as poverty, poor education and crime, unless we uphold the rule of law and the Constitution.

That is what the DA will do in opposition.   But we are now not only a party of opposition.  We are consolidating our role as a party of government.

In the Western Cape, where we are in government, we will show what co-operative governance between local authorities and a province can achieve, as the Constitution envisages. 

Now, if President-elect Zuma is really committed to defending and protecting constitutionalism and the rule of law - and many of his previous actions and statements cast grave doubt over his commitment - he must match his fine words in Parliament with deeds. He must, at the outset of his term in office, take the following five steps.

Firstly, he must refuse to appoint any of his cronies to lead those institutions whose independence is constitutionally enshrined, such as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the police and the Constitutional Court.

In particular, if Zuma were to appoint the acting head of the NPA, Mokotedi Mpshe, permanently in the position of National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), that would confirm suspicions that Zuma and his clique exerted political pressure on Mpshe to drop the charges against him on the eve of the election. It would be viewed by the public as a pay-off for Mpshe.

Secondly, Zuma must retract the statements he made shortly before the election, when he insinuated that judges should not be independent, but accountable to the government.

Thirdly, he must prevail upon his colleagues in Cabinet to withdraw the draft Constitution 17th Amendment Bill, which empowers national government to usurp powers from local government. If the ANC manages to pass this constitutional amendment, giving itself a range of reasons to undermine local government, the ANC could effectively nullify voters' choice and enforce ANC policy from the centre -  even where the ANC loses power in municipal elections.  The Bill will enable the ANC to continue its power abuse by removing important constitutional mechanisms that local governments can currently use to counter such abuse. 

Fourthly, Zuma must assure the public that his government will not attempt to revoke property rights, pretending that this will expedite land reform, as the ANC threatened to before the election.

Finally, Zuma must not abuse his power to prevent the DA from making sure that he has his day in court to answer the serious charges of fraud and corruption against him.

The NPA's decision to drop those charges fundamentally undermined the rule of law. The NPA has a constitutional duty to exercise its functions without fear, favour or prejudice. It must uphold the rule of law and the principle that all are equal before the law. By dropping the charges against Zuma, the NPA created a precedent that individuals in positions of power are above the law and can bully their way out of trouble.  Left unchallenged, this approach is the death knell for any constitutional democracy.

The DA is contesting the withdrawal of the charges. We filed an application in the North Gauteng High Court for a judicial review of the decision to discontinue the prosecution, because the decision was taken on political, not legal grounds. The decision violated the Constitution. It violated the law, and it violated the NDPP's own policies.  It is now up to the courts to provide relief and a judicial review is the only way to ensure that justice takes its course.

Already, Jacob Zuma's lawyers have embarked on every possible legal delaying tactic they can find - because they can draw on unlimited state resources, while the DA must use its own.  They want to exhaust us into withdrawing.  We will do all we can to see the case through, because we believe that if Jacob Zuma does not have his day in court, then the rule of law will be dealt an irreparable blow. It is our duty to ensure that justice is done and is seen to be done.

As the man who will be Head of State after his presidential inauguration on Saturday, Zuma must respect our duty and allow us to execute it. If he doesn't, his words on Wednesday will ring hollow.

This article by Helen Zille first appeared in SA Today, the weekly online newsletter of the leader of the Democratic Alliance May 8 2009

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