Playing by the rules

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Published on Tuesday, 14 February 2012 14:04

Written by Chris van der Westhuyzen

The supremacy of a Constitution is the cornerstone of any democracy. No state can remain truly democratic if it allows any one of its citizens to live above the law. The recognition of South Africa’s judiciary as an autonomous arm of government is thus crucial, for it is our justice system, and the legitimate functioning of our courts, that aims to prevent the unlawful exercise of power. 

Our leaders realised this back in ’94, which is why the ANC was particularly proud to adopt a constitution that provides for an independent judicial system free to operate without government interference.

Today, however, it seems the ruling party is growing increasingly indifferent to the judiciary’s mandate. Politicians end up in court all the time. Lately, a number of ANC officials have been investigated for allegations of corruption, money laundering, divisive public utterances or just general abuse of power. 

These men and women fight back relentlessly, because there is so much at stake. They are determined to save their reputations, careers and political clout, which is why they go to extreme lengths to prove that they’re innocent. 

But as representatives of the public, politicians are accountable to the people who voted for them. Their legal affairs concern all of us, and therefore we expect these cases to be dealt with in a manner that upholds judicial independence, thus ruling out any opportunity for political conniving.

Unfortunately, the things we expect of our leaders often amount to nothing more than wishful thinking. The ANC has repeatedly undermined the independence of the judiciary by acting on its own terms, with little or no regard for standard legal procedure. 

President Jacob Zuma blames the judiciary for usurping the government’s role in setting policy. Last year he said that the powers of the court “cannot be regarded as superior to the powers resulting from a mandate given by the people in a popular vote.”

The ANC clearly thinks it is bigger than the constitution. Given this, it is easy to comprehend what Avusa editor-in-chief Mondli Makhanya describes as “the ruling party’s campaign to politicise the judiciary”. The ANC wants to reign supreme, unhindered by legal scruples. 

So instead of allowing the judiciary to do its job, which is to uphold and preserve our constitutional rule of law, the ruling party tends to trivialise the role of the courts. This poses a major threat to the strengthening of our democracy. 

South Africa needs to focus on the empowerment of its justice system, whether our leaders like it or not. After all, ours is a government of laws and not of men or women.