A motion of no confidence - secret or open - in South Africa’s president will be destabilising. There’s value in ensuring that such a hefty decision is made openly and with courage of conviction.
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Articles on Constitutional Court
Displaying 41 - 60 of 71 articles
Recent events suggest that South Africa’s government may be resorting to short-term measures to pacify anger over lack of housing. But what’s needed is a major overhaul of the housing policy.
South Africa’s Constitutional Court has the difficult task of deciding whether MPs can have the protection of a secret ballot when voting whether to fire President Zuma or not.
A civil society organisation, OGOD, wants South Africa’s public schools to stop calling themselves Christian and to outlaw their religious practices.
South Africa celebrates Freedom Day this week amid growing discontent over misrule by President Zuma and the ANC. This has led to increased calls for ethical and caring leaders.
South African President Jacob Zuma’s follies cost the ANC dearly during last year’s election. Is it too late for the party to save itself come 2019?
South Africa’s social grants, which benefit a third of the country’s population, are widely celebrated. But these grants fall far short of addressing the country’s malnutrition challenge.
The social grant saga shows how South African courts are doomed to fail to protect the public from its government.
Entities at the centre of the storm engulfing South Africa’s social grants distribution system have claimed to be champions of financial inclusion. The claim in itself is scandalous.
South Africa’s Constitutional Court has repeatedly stepped in to protect vulnerable people and to perform what former deputy chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke calls its “transformative role”.
South Africa’s social grants fiasco begs the question: was it orchestrated to undermine the judiciary and the constitution and hide sheer incompetence on the part of government?
Besides a reminder of a dark period in South Africa’s history, Human Rights Day also celebrates the country’s unique, highly acclaimed constitution which guarantees human dignity and equal rights.
South Africa’s Constitutional Court is in a fix. The only way to deliver social grants that support millions would be through a process that’s without validation, would be unlawful and invalid.
The making of South Africa’s Constitution took six long years. Now, 20 years later, the process of drawing up this revered document is being tainted with myth making.
The retirement of Dikgang Moseneke, one of South Africa’s eminent judges and the Constitutional Court’s deputy chief justice, is a moment to reflect on the court’s place in society and his legacy.
A key question ahead of local government elections in South Africa is whether the African National Congress will retain control of seven of the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities.
South Africa’s Constitution enjoins government to act “reasonably” in ensuring that basic socioeconomic rights are progressively realised. But the government has limited resources.
Were South African banks within their legal rights to close a politically influential family’s accounts?
Ironically, the only feasible way of removing President Zuma lies outside the prescribed formal structures of the constitutional processes – at the head office of the governing ANC.
In the words of US President Obama: Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions. In this light, the South African president’s acceptance of a court ruling against him is a good thing.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor in Public Law, University of Cape Town
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Associate Professor in Public Law, University of Cape Town
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Claude Leon Foundation Chair in Constitutional Governance, University of Cape Town
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Professor of Public Affairs, Tshwane University of Technology
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Professor Emeritus of Public Law, University of Cape Town
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Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape
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Professor in Political Science, University of South Africa
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Professor of Law, UNSW Sydney
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Postdoctoral fellow, University of Cape Town
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Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand
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Chief researcher, Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology, head of Unit for Moral Leadership, Stellenbosch University
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Caxton Professor of Journalism, University of the Witwatersrand
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Professor of Finance & Insurance, University of the Witwatersrand
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Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies
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Emeritus Professor of Private Law, University of Cape Town
