Quote of the week
Universal adult suffrage on a common voters roll is one of the foundational values of our entire constitutional order. The achievement of the franchise has historically been important both for the acquisition of the rights of full and effective citizenship by all South Africans regardless of race, and for the accomplishment of an all-embracing nationhood. The universality of the franchise is important not only for nationhood and democracy. The vote of each and every citizen is a badge of dignity and of personhood. Quite literally, it says that everybody counts. In a country of great disparities of wealth and power it declares that whoever we are, whether rich or poor, exalted or disgraced, we all belong to the same democratic South African nation; that our destinies are intertwined in a single interactive polity.
August and Another v Electoral Commission and Others (CCT8/99) [1999] ZACC 3
Correction of SABC report by DCJ Moseneke
CHAMBERS OF Constitution Hill
JUSTICE D MOSENEKE Private Bag X1
DEPUTY CHIEF JUSTICE OF SOUTH AFRICA BRAAMFONTEIN
2017
Tel: (011)359-7442
Fax: (011)403-8883
E Mail: grobler@concourt.org.za
PRESS RELEASE
Monday 15 August 2011
Yesterday the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that in my address to the annual conference of the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women judges at North West University I said almost 90% of South Africa’s courts have not delivered judgment on cases before them.
That report is inaccurate.
I stressed to the judges and magistrates who attended the conference that the delay in the finalisation of cases may lead to injustice and that judges and magistrates are duty-bound to deliver judgments promptly. I added that almost 90% of complaints against judicial officers relate to judgments that had not been delivered promptly.
Clearly this does not mean that “almost 90% of South African Courts have not delivered judgment on cases before them.”
This inaccuracy in reporting is to be regretted because firstly the SABC appeared to televise the entire address and more importantly, by and large, Courts of this country do their work diligently and as promptly as it is reasonably possible.
Issued by: Dikgang Moseneke
Deputy Chief Justice
