This blog deals with political and social issues in South Africa, mostly from the perspective of Constitutional Law. Written by Pierre de Vos
When a long-ago friend angrily lashed out at me on social media for posting an announcement of an anti-genocide protest [ ] The post A story about D, his mother S, and the dehumanising denialism of genocide apologists first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
It is difficult not to conclude that the National Dialogue is an idiotic and self-indulgent scheme cooked up by decadent [ ] The post On decadent elites: Why do the work when you can just have a National Dialogue? first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
Any invalidation further down the line of Prof Firoz Cachalia’s appointment as acting police minister would also render his decisions [ ] The post MK party’s ConCourt challenge to Mchunu’s removal raises important constitutional law issues first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
The postponement of the Budget was, on balance, a positive sign. It suggests a moderate degree of pragmatism among the [ ] The post Budget postponement brings into sharp focus SA’s new coalition reality first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
It should be possible for citizens with radically different political views to have constructive discussions about the merits of the [ ] The post On the alarmist, misleading, and anti-constitutional claims made by critics of the Expropriation Act first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
The SAPS’ operation Vala Umgodi which led to more than a 100 miners starving to death in shaft 10 and [ ] The post Why (almost) everything I learnt on social media about the Buffelsfontein tragedy turned out to be wrong first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
Even when the legal arguments in such lawfare cases are weak or absurd, the litigation itself can be of value [ ] The post Court cases against UCT and Maties are emblematic of the ‘Mpofu-fication’ of SA universities first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
It is impossible to ignore recent examples of truly woeful judgments emanating from the Constitutional Court. Two recent judgments dealing [ ] The post Constitutional Court woes must be top of Chief Justice Mandisa Maya’s agenda first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
Two recent high court judgments, as well as revelations about the politicisation of its disciplinary processes, suggest the Legal Practice [ ] The post Concerted effort needed from legal profession to fix ‘incompetent’ Legal Practice Council first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
Police officers whose lives are endangered have the right to respond appropriately to protect themselves. But this does not justify [ ] The post Sharp rise in number of people shot dead by KZN cops is cause for serious concern first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
What the MK party did when it nominated Dr John Hlophe as its representative on the Judicial Service Commission was [ ] The post Fix the JSC rather than banning John Hlophe from serving on it first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
If the agreement between the ANC and the DA requiring ‘sufficient consensus’ for GNU decisions holds, it would make it [ ] The post Reasons why the GNU might end up as an exhibit in Zagreb’s Museum of Broken Relationships first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
The election of the President will not be derailed by the urgent application lodged with the Constitutional Court on Tuesday [ ] The post Zuma’s MK party may be litigiously backing itself into corner with doomed urgent application first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
With the ANC now holding only 159 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly, and assuming that the 87 [ ] The post No, a political party cannot sabotage the election of the President by refusing to participate in the election of the President by the National Assembly first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
While the IEC deserves to be scrutinised and held to account for any stuff ups, it is important to keep [ ] The post The IEC is not perfect, but beware of bad faith attacks aimed at discrediting the election first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
The Constitution does not and should not prevent the democratically elected government from passing laws merely because an economically powerful [ ] The post Why the ConCourt is not the appropriate body to resolve policy disagreements about the NHI Act first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
Jacob Zuma needs potential MK voters to believe that if they vote for the party, they are voting for him [ ] The post Zuma MK party representation may be critical for votes but push for ConCourt judges’ recusal probably a dead end first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
If recent opinion polls are to be believed, no political party will win an outright majority of National Assembly seats [ ] The post The slippery path to a stable coalition government first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
It is worrying that there are increasingly desperate and shrill attempts to undermine the legitimacy of the IEC by making [ ] The post Be wary of political parties that undermine our democracy with unsubstantiated attacks on the IEC first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
Whether Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula remains Speaker of the National Assembly is not a legal matter. Neither is it a matter of [ ] The post Retaining Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as Speaker is not a legal matter, but a political choice first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
Apart from the odd statement demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, South African universities have, by and large, remained silent about [ ] The post The case for an academic boycott of Israeli universities complicit in the Gaza onslaught first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
The (at the very least) incestuous practice of appointing all-male and all-white legal teams breeds (or perpetuates) a special kind [ ] The post All-white, all-male legal teams are wrong on so many levels first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
The ConCourt decision to reject the ANC’s bid to overturn an order for it to hand over all records of [ ] The post Why ending the ANC’s cadre deployment policy may do little to end corruption and nepotism first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
Staunch defenders of abusive practices at Stellenbosch University residences like Wilgenhof resist change, and cling to a version of their [ ] The post Apartheid of the soul: On Wilgenhof abuses and those who justify or defend them first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
What the Teeger case illustrates is just how difficult it is to devise (and consistently apply) a clear set of [ ] The post On David Teeger, Cricket SA and the wrongheaded freedom of speech arguments made in his defence first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
I have been travelling through Cuba over the past three weeks — a country venerated for its socialist commitments by [ ] The post A hustle here and a hustle there — how things work (maybe) in Cuba first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
I have always had a complicated relationship with rugby and the Springboks, a relationship almost as complicated as (and inextricably [ ] The post Rugby, Rassie, the Springboks, my father and me – a South African parable first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
Malema’s claims outside the East London Magistrates’ Court were intended to delegitimise the trial and its outcome, and to intimidate [ ] The post Julius Malema has opened himself to criminal charges of ‘scandalising the court’ first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
What kind of lawyer would be brazen enough to advance such mendacious legal arguments on behalf of their equally mendacious [ ] The post Zuma’s bid to set aside Raymond Zondo’s appointment as Chief Justice is a legal nonsense first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .
Since it became responsible for the task of disciplining lawyers in 2018, the Legal Practice Council’s lackadaisical enforcement of the [ ] The post On tardiness and torpidity: It’s time the Legal Practice Council stepped up to do its duty first appeared on Constitutionally Speaking .