Parliamentary speech by Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, DA Parliamentary Leader, November 1 2011:

Farewell to Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo

Note to editors: The following speech was given today in Parliament by DA Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko MP.

Mr. President, 
Chief Justices, 
Honourable Members,

The blindfold worn by the ‘Lady Justice' represents the impartiality of the judiciary. When all are equal before the law, justice is blind, and those entrusted with meting it out do so without fear or favour.

This is what our Constitution demands. It is what every citizen of our great country deserves.

Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo has proven - in word and in deed - that his loyalty lies with the Constitution above all else. And so every South African - represented by each Honourable Member in this House - joins hands in saluting him today.

We salute him for his work as an attorney in Durban in the 1980s when there was no such thing as equality before the law. Indeed, the oppressive system of apartheid advanced the precise opposite. By representing victims of forced removals and police brutality, Justice Ngcobo did what he could to ensure that justice was served - even in that fundamentally unjust system.

We salute him for securing judicial reforms aimed at addressing the crippling delays in the judicial system. And we hope that these will get the wheels of justice turning more quickly. After all, justice delayed is justice denied.

But, above all, we salute the outgoing Chief Justice for his quiet humility and love of the law; for his steadfastness in defending and upholding the Constitution of this land.

Speaker, I follow in the giant footsteps of a great parliamentarian and fierce defender of liberty, the late Helen Suzman. Once, when asked why she did what she did, she replied:

"I hate bullies. I stand for simple justice, equal opportunity and human rights."

The values Ms Suzman espoused then are entrenched firmly in our Constitution today. The drafters of our Constitution understood that limiting power abuse was the key to preventing a recurrence of tyranny. They sought to ensure that the law would never again be used by the strong to oppress the weak.

We are privileged to have one of the architects of our supreme law in our ranks here today. Few people have done more for constitutionalism in our country than the Honourable Dene Smuts, and I am proud to call her my colleague.

Speaker, there are many of us, on both sides of this House, who cherish our constitutional values. After all, our Constitution transcends party politics. It was a product of negotiation and compromise. It is our founding compact, the very bedrock upon which our rainbow nation was built.

But not everybody sees it that way.

There are some in our country who believe they are above the law; who believe that might is right. They enrich themselves at the expense of the poor and use race to divide South Africa's citizens. 

They wish to destroy our Constitution. They are the bullies of our time.

Speaker, it is said that a Constitution is only as strong as the character of those charged with upholding it. That our Constitution is thriving today - despite pressure on it from some quarters - is a testament to the characters of Chief Justices Chaskalson, Langa and Ngcobo.

That tradition has now been passed on to Chief Justice Mogoeng. In his hands rest the hopes and dreams of millions of South Africans. It is no exaggeration, Justice Mogoeng, to say that our success as a nation depends on your success as a Chief Justice.

It is an awesome responsibility.

We believe that you will adjudicate the cases before you with wisdom and fairness.

We trust that you will build on the foundations laid by your predecessors.

We pray that you will have the wisdom to know which are the weak, and which are the strong. And above all, we wish you the strength to stand up to bullies.

I thank you.

Issued by the Democratic Alliance, November 1 2011

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