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
The Ministry of State Security has noted with concern the ongoing media onslaught on the Protection of Information Bill debate. After the public hearings on the bill, the Minister for State Security, Dr Siyabonga Cwele requested additional time to consider the submissions made, this owing to the seriousness of the issues at hand. What is concerning is the tone of the debate which suggests that the work on this bill is complete and that Parliament has already made its pronouncements on the matter. This perception is clearly not true and mischievous on the part of some who are participating in the debate. An additional element of concern is the ‘war-talk’ that forms part of the media debate, as well as personal attacks on members of the adhoc committee working on the bill. This type of engagement is unwarranted and does nothing to add value to the debate and the work that is currently underway. If anything, it is dangerous and misguided. – Statement issued by the Ministry of State Security spokesperson, Brian Dube, in an attempt to intimidate and silence critics of the Bill
