In a subtle attack on tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu, justice minister Ronald Lamola has warned the constitution’s critics in the executive against making a “mockery” of their oath of office.
Lamola’s remarks were made at an event to mark 25 years since the constitution came into effect — and a month after Sisulu penned a controversial opinion piece on the constitution and rule of law.
The controversy has persisted and has further exposed rifts within the governing party, with members of the so-called radical economic transformation faction backing Sisulu.
“If us members of the executive stand and wash our hands of this constitution, we make a mockery of our oath of office and our duty to serve this great nation and fulfil its true potential,” said Lamola.
On Monday, ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile confirmed Sisulu was due before the party’s integrity commission in a matter of days.
In January, during a national executive committee (NEC) meeting, Derek Hanekom reportedly pressed for the committee’s intervention to address a complaint that Sisulu implied the president misrepresented comments she made at a meeting between them.
Days after Sisulu’s piece was published, both in print and online, civil society organisations admonished it as an “attack on the judiciary”.
Sisulu began the opinion piece saying apartheid, US Jim Crow laws, colonialism and Nazism were all formally “legal”, after which she asked: “So, what does it mean to have the rule of law? And whose law is it anyway?”
Later in the text, she criticised the lack of transformation and economic reconciliation in SA. She argued against the constitution, highlighting wrongdoings she claimed were legitimised under SA’s rule of law.
“The most dangerous African today is the mentally colonised African. And when you put them in leadership positions or as interpreters of the law, they are worse than your oppressor,” wrote Sisulu.
Sisulu sided with critics of SA’s constitution and rule of law, with some asserting it showed she agreed with people such as former president Jacob Zuma.
Observers mused Sisulu sought to gain ground as a contender in the ANC leadership race, which will be decided at the party’s elective conference in December.
Speaking in Cape Town on Tuesday, the justice minister noted the proliferation of “conversations and, in some cases, debates” on the constitution’s efficacy.
“There is no question that the delivery of the constitutional promises has not been consistent,” admitted Lamola.
In an apparent — albeit discreet — reference to Sisulu, he added “it cannot be us, charged with the responsibility to make the constitution a lived reality, who send mixed signals on how South Africans should interact with this instrument”.
His address, days after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviews with the chief justice candidates, emphasised the Constitutional Court’s role in resolving disputes brought by parties.
“Judgments could be reduced to a piece of paper … Our respect for the rule of law must not be based on what is pronounced by the judiciary, but a complete and total commitment to justice in its truest sense,” Lamola cautioned.
“As I say this, I am reminded of the fact that those of us who characterise judges in a particular manner seem to forget that judges do not impose themselves on us in our communities.”
Last week, Lamola participated in the JSC’s interviews for the country’s next top judge. As one of 22 commissioners, he posed questions to four candidates vying to become chief justice.
EFF leader Julius Malema and Lamola clashed during Friday’s interview, when Malema queried a letter Lamola wrote to acting chief justice Raymond Zondo.
In the letter of early November about acting appointments in the apex court, Lamola asked about an acting stint for Gauteng judge president Dunstan Mlambo.
Malema accused Lamola of interfering in the process by writing to Zondo about Mlambo acting in the top court. Lamola read Section 175(1) of the supreme law, which legislates the justice minister’s role in appointing acting Constitutional Court judges.
On Saturday evening, the JSC announced its recommendation that appeals court president Mandisa Maya be appointed as SA’s new judicial leader.
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