History Matters

Aubrey Matshiqi – published in Business Day – 26 September 2008 IN 1970 Lord Patrick Devlin wrote in The Judge: “It is a great temptation to cast the judiciary as an elite which will bypass the traffic-laden ways of the democratic process.” He continued so: “But it would only apparently be a bypass. In truth [...]

The Social Justice Coalition announces the launch of the Irene Grootboom Community Lecture Series and a Programme of Action for the Social Justice Coalition (SJC). The SJC will campaign to Protect and Advance Constitutional Rights and Freedoms; we will defend the independence and integrity of the Judiciary and focus on the need to build a [...]

The Secretary General of the ANC was a voice of reason when Julius Malema went off the rails. Comrade Gwede Mantashe counseled caution, arguing that this young man needed to be nurtured so that he could become a responsible leader. It seems that some form of nurturing is occurring and the young man, “as yet [...]

“Statements attributed to some of its senior executives send a worrying signal about the calibre of leadership at the helm of such important institutions.” Who would believe this was uttered by Julius Malema, of all people, about the Human Rights Commission!

Dear Kadar, I fully support your “Declaration in Defense of the Constitution”. I believe that there are thousands of South Africans who share your concerns and will support your call. Thousands of people in the past two years have marched, submitted declarations and have demonstrated (some unfortunately violently) throughout the length and breath of this [...]

If the allegations are not a literary masterpiece, we must be worried about our political culture. We must be worried because this would mean that our judiciary is not immune from political thuggery. In fact, it would mean that a judge president can be as obtuse as a misguided youth leader who vows to kill [...]