The call by KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala for SA to move away from a constitutional democracy to a parliamentary democracy has come under fire from political and constitutional experts who view it as a dangerous attack on SA’s democracy.
Speaking at a Human Rights Day event last week, Zikalala blamed the Constitutional Court for blocking radical economic transformation.
“It is incorrect that when we want to transform our province and country we are stopped by another arm of the state. When we want to implement BBBEE [broad-based BEE], preferential procurement and radical socioeconomic transformation we are stopped by the courts,” said Zikalala.
Sanusha Naidu, from the Institute for Global Dialogue, says Zikalala’s statements bring to the fore the deep division within the governing party, of those in support of President Cyril Ramaphosa and those wanting him out.
“It is an implicit attack on President Ramaphosa, a key negotiator and one of the architects of our current constitution. It is also clear that the constitution is challenging the governance deficit within the state and party structures. It is evident that some in the ANC do not want to deal with the step-aside rule, criminal charges being brought against them [and] allegations of corruption highlighted in the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture. Such statements place the judiciary and the constitution in a precarious situation.”
Naidu said it was interesting that the statement by Zikalala was made during an ANC elective conference year. “It is no doubt a very powerful sentiment and speaks directly to the faction that is driving radical economic transformation. Yet it also fuels the division and speaks to a sense of desperation within the ANC factions,” she added.
Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution (Casac) executive secretary Lawson Naidoo said Zikalala’s comments displayed a misunderstanding of the nature of the constitution — the supreme law of the country and an inclusive democracy since 1994.
“The premier appeared irked by some of the judgments that he regarded as stifling radical economic transformation. Instead of reflecting on the merits of the judgments, he pulled out the well-worn refrain from the populist playbook ‘blame it on the constitution’.
“Zikalala conveniently ignores the failures of government to deal with inequalities within our society that lie at the root of many of our socioeconomic weaknesses.
“The fact that the pace of land reform has been woefully slow is not the fault of the courts, nor the fault of section 25 of the constitution. It is because of a lack of political will by the government to drive a meaningful and sustainable land reform programme,” he said.
Naidoo said the consistent failures of parliament to adhere to its constitutional mandate to oversee and hold the executive to account had been laid bare before the Zondo commission.
According to ANC insiders, Zikalala wants a second term as provincial chair in the run-up to the ANC’s national elective conference in December. Zikalala is yet to confirm his ambitions.
For now, the powerful ANC Women’s League and radical economic transformation faction close to former president Jacob Zuma want finance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube or eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda as the next premier of KwaZulu-Natal.
Zikalala is the second senior ANC leader to attack the constitution. In January, tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu, in an opinion piece, attacked the constitution as being “neoliberal with foreign inspiration” and also called for an overhaul of the judiciary.
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