Former South Africa’s President, Thab Mbeki, has made a remarkable intervention that condemns parliament’s failure to act against President Jacob Zuma. But he is eight years too late.
Some students argue wrongly that the ANC has betrayed the promise of free higher education made in the Freedom Charter. The governing party’s populism is also to blame for the confusion.
The Constitution’s external affairs power does not support Section 18C. And the section also impermissibly infringes the implied freedom of political communication.
Ministers of religion who support marriage equality would be able to challenge the Marriage Act in the High Court. They would stand a good chance of winning.
Many municipalities in the South Africa don’t function properly because of poor management and administrative capacity. They don’t have enough appropriately qualified and experienced staff.
One Nation candidate Rod Culleton could win Western Australia’s final Senate position, but Section 44 of the Constitution suggests he is ineligible to take his seat.
Now that we have had the double-dissolution election, the next step is for the government to attempt to pass the industrial relations bills through the House of Representatives and Senate again.
Political funding in Australia is governed by different rules for state (some of which do not require disclosure) and federal governments. And both levels suffer significant weaknesses.
Sex workers in South Africa are all potential criminals due to the country’s regressive laws. But their status may change soon, making South Africa the first African country to decriminalise sex work.
South Africa’s Constitution enjoins government to act “reasonably” in ensuring that basic socioeconomic rights are progressively realised. But the government has limited resources.
Alfred Deakin and his contemporaries invented the Australian prime ministership. But it was not settled as a platform for national leadership until John Curtin and Ben Chifley’s time.
Australia’s Constitution sets the ground rules for its system of government. But many things one might expect to be in the Constitution are simply not there.