Quote of the week
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.
Secretary of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State v Zuma and Others (CCT 52/21) [2021] ZACC 18
On the curious case of “shooting the boer”
News that the South Gautenteng High Court Acting Judge Leon Halgryn ruled on Friday that use of the words “dubula ibhunu (shoot the boer)” was unconstitutional and unlawful is odd, to say the least. Unfortunately this was an urgent application so the judge did not seem to have given reasons for his judgment. Nevertheless, if the media reports are correct, the judgment does not seem to make much sense.
I am not sure on what basis the “publication” and the “utterance” of the words can be declared unconstitutional. It is true that section 16 of the Bill of Rights states that the right to freedom of expression does not extend to incitement of immenent violence or advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethinity, gender or religion and that constitutes incitement to cause harm. However, section 16 itself does not ban such words, but merely states that the utterance of such words are not protected speech.
This would mean such speech could be regulated or banned by the legislature and such a ban could not be challenged on the basis that it infiringed on the section 16 protection of freedom of expression. It decidedly does not mean that in the absence of such regulation by the legislature the words are “unconstitutional”. How a particular phrase could ever be declared unconstitutional is beside me. There is no provision in the Bill of Rights that prohibits any particular phrase. If the judge was quoted correctly, he was obviously talking nonsense.
Another question is whether a particular phrase could be declared unlawful by a court. I suspect not. The utterance or publication of some words in certain context could amount to defamation or it could fall foul of section 10 of the Equality Act but that could only be done with reference to the specific context and the facts of a particular case.
Maybe the Acting Judge was relying on the criminal law principle in common law and in terms of the Riotous Assemblies Act which prohibits the incitement of a crime. But then it would have to be shown that an accused “sought to influence the mind of another person towards the commission of a crime” and that would depend on the facts of a particular case and could not be decided in the abstract.
It seems to me bizarre that a court could decide in the abstract in an urgent application that a particular phrase was unconstitutional and unlawful. Surely one will have to decide on a case by case basis whether the utterances of words defamed someone or falls foul of the Equality Act or constitutes incitement to commit a crime.
To hold otherwise would be dangerous, nonsensical and would lead to absurd consequences. What would happen if I write a short story and one of the characters sings “Shoot the Boer”. Would this mean my story when published would be declared “unconstitutional” and “unlawful”?
At the very least it would be good for the judge to present written reasons for this judgment. Based on the available evidence it makes absolutely no sense.
