Mr Zuma is no ordinary litigant. He is the former President of the Republic, who remains a public figure and continues to wield significant political influence, while acting as an example to his supporters… He has a great deal of power to incite others to similarly defy court orders because his actions and any consequences, or lack thereof, are being closely observed by the public. If his conduct is met with impunity, he will do significant damage to the rule of law. As this Court noted in Mamabolo, “[n]o one familiar with our history can be unaware of the very special need to preserve the integrity of the rule of law”. Mr Zuma is subject to the laws of the Republic. No person enjoys exclusion or exemption from the sovereignty of our laws… It would be antithetical to the value of accountability if those who once held high office are not bound by the law.
The Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Max Price Professor Pierre De Vos Department of Public Law Faculty of Law Wednesday, 14 September 2011 at 17h30 Lecture Theatre 1, Kramer Law Building University of Cape Town Admission: Free Guests to be seated by 17h15 |
Pierre de Vos was appointed as the Claude Leon Foundation Chair in Constitutional Governance in the Public Law Department at the Law Faculty of the University of Cape Town in July 2009. His tasks include the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Constitutional Law and engagement in public activities to promote respect for the Constitution of South Africa. He has obtained a BComm (Law); LLB and LLM (cum laude), all from the University of Stellenbosch; a LLM from the University of Columbia, New York; and an LLD from the University of the Western Cape.
He taught at the University of the Western Cape for over 15 years where he was first appointed as a lecturer in 1993 before being promoted to Professor in 2003. He has published widely on an array of topics dealing, broadly, with the use of law in promoting social justice. His research focuses specifically on the realisation of social and economic rights – including the right to housing and health care – and the prohibition on unfair discrimination – especially as it relates to discrimination against gay men, lesbians and people living with HIV/AIDS. In 2008 he became the first legal academic in South Africa to write a regular Blog, entitled Constitutionally Speaking. Today the Blog is widely read and quoted, as is his commentary provided to electronic and print media in South Africa and abroad. For the past 5 years he has served as the Chairperson of the Board of the Aids Legal Network, an NGO promoting a human rights approach to HIV/AIDS prevention, combatting discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS, and government policies regarding HIV/AIDS treatment. He is also a Board member of the Triangle Project and the Ubuntu Development Forum. In 1994 he published a novel – in Afrikaans – entitled “Slegs Blankes/Whites Only”. The novel told the story of a young Afrikaans man coming to terms with the fact that his father was a member of an apartheid hit squad, and with the fact of his own sexuality.
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RSVP by 7 September 2011 to:
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University of Cape Town
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