The Chief Justice of South Africa, the Hon. Mr Justice Sandile Ngcobo, will deliver the first Claude Leon public lecture on the topic:
“The importance of public confidence in the judiciary in South Africa”Date: Thursday 16th September
Time: 17h30
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, Kramer Building, Middle Campus, UCT
Please join us afterwards for drinks and snacks
RSVP: Rene 021 650 [...]
Posts under ‘Governance’
Invitation to a Public Lecture by Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo
More thoughts on Blade and the cabinet
When Minister Blade Nzimande was appointed to the Cabinet by President Jacob Zuma, some voices in the South African Communist Party (SACP) questioned the wisdom of him continuing to serve as the general secretary of the SACP. Given the experience of the SACP with some of its members who served in Thabo Mbeki’s cabinet and who often seemed [...]
Champagne socialism at its best
I was not sure exactly how to react when I read that Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande (who also moonlights as the Secretary General of the South African Communist Party) yesterday expressed his support for striking public servant workers and said the government must deal with the huge salary gap between low-earning public servants and the government’s “highest paid [...]
The return of fake morality?
Because my parents were members of the Dutch Reformed Church, I had to attend the church service and Sunday school every week. What fun! The dominee (minister), speaking in the ridiculously pretentious accent learnt at the kweekskool (seminary), usually warned in apocalyptic terms against the evils of sex before marriage (or sex with an Engelse meisie or a black [...]
Shock and awe at Parliament Street
Reading through the minutes of the public hearings in Parliament on the Protection of Information Bill (see here, here, here and here), is a bit like reading a novel that deals with the Holocaust in a humoristic manner. One is horrified and shocked by the utter lack of decency, logic, humility, intelligence and any sense of respect for ordinary human [...]
Sleepwalking through an empty life
Sometimes I wonder whether we would all not have been far happier if we had known absolutely nothing about what was happening in our world and if we were unable to remember – even for one week – how we had been wronged and hurt by others.
What if we had not been able to remember how the apartheid [...]
The princess and co-operative government
In a weekend newspaper the argument was made that the Minister of Defence, Lindiwe Sisulu, had every right to boycott the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), and that she could not be summonsed by Scopa to appear before it. This was, according to the writer, because all the provisions of the Constitution (including those that [...]
On the princess, her advisors and contempt for democracy
After Tony Yengeni was thrown in jail, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu arguably became the best dressed member of Parliament. However, behind her back she is often referred to as “The Princess” because she comes from political blue blood and acts the part. “We are not amused,” seems to be her motto.
Last week the Minister revealed her [...]
On precedent and Mr Von Abo
High Court judges are supposed to have a duty to follow the precedent set by the Constitutional Court and they have to do so in an honest and diligent manner. As readers of this Blog know, I believe South African High Court judges do not always adhere to this injunction. This is either because judges are ignorant [...]
Mpshe’s appointment: scandalous attack on independence of the judiciary
Maybe we are all suffering from abuse-of-power-fatigue? What with the probably unlawful dropping of charges against President Jacob Zuma, the probably unlawful firing of Vusi Pikoli as National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), the clearly unlawful granting of “medical parole” to Schabir Shaik – that “terminally ill” (ha!) friend of President Zuma’s - (the same friend who was [...]
