The first day of the hearings of the Madlanga commission contained cogent indications that National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shamila Batohi was probably right to assert years ago that in SA the rule of law was on life support in the nation’s ICU (“Madlanga says Mkhwanazi’s allegations could spell ‘doom for rule of law’,” September 17).
Suspicions that the government has been paying lip service to constitutionalism and the supremacy of the rule of law since 1994 are being given traction by the evidence of Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. If he is believed, he will emerge as a whistleblowing hero for exposing the criminal enterprise that has grasped the levers of power to enable industrial-scale looting in the country.
Former president Thabo Mbeki did the arms deals; his successor, Jacob Zuma, engineered state capture, and President Cyril Ramaphosa has yet to provide a cogent explanation for those dollar bills stolen from his disappeared Phala Phala couch.
According to a binding ruling of the Constitutional Court, “our law demands a body outside executive control to deal effectively with corruption”. That the trio of presidents do not wear orange overalls bears mute testimony to the failure to establish the body the court ordered.
If the outcome of the Madlanga commission requires proper compliance with that court decision, there is hope that feigning fealty to the rule of law will end and a constitutional course direction in favour of accountability, openness and responsiveness will follow.
The bills promoted by Glynnis Breytenbach that envisage a Chapter Nine anticorruption body await adoption by parliament. They are well aligned with the court decision.
Paul Hoffman
Accountability Now
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 200 words may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.