Why have we not heard President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver a rebuke of his tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s comments attacking the judiciary and our constitution? There has long been a push for Ramaphosa to remove members of his cabinet that weren’t up to the job but what about one that attacks the constitution she swore to uphold?
The president has been eerily quiet since Sisulu published her remarks in an op-ed on IOL, followed by more articles addressing those who criticised her in their own op-eds.
Ramaphosa reportedly always plays the long game, bidding his time before taking any action to ensure he has the strongest possible hand and to make sure he can hold onto his seat of power as ANC president and, indeed, president of the country.
Perhaps he hasn’t taken action against Sisulu for fear of legitimising her run for the ANC presidency and ultimately sparking a groundswell of support from the radical economic transformation (RET) wing of the ANC to get behind her candidacy.
No doubt, this will be an extremely trying year for politics and the rule of law in South Africa with the release of the full State Capture report, former president Jacob Zuma’s battles with the court, suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s struggles and the internal party fights for the ANC presidency.
But above all of the court cases and internal party machinations, the president has taken an oath to uphold our hard-fought-for constitution and his silence on the Sisulu matter is unforgivable as Business Day writes.
In her piece, Sisulu wrote about the judiciary: “The most dangerous African today is the mentally colonised African. And when you put them in leadership positions or as interpreters of the law, they are worse than your oppressor. They have no African or Pan-African-inspired ideological grounding. Some are confused by foreign belief systems.”
Acting chief justice Raymond Zondo found his voice and defended the judiciary and the rule of law against Sisulu calling her comments an unfair attack and insulting.
Zondo risked his own chances of becoming the new permanent chief justice by breaking with a long-held adage that those in the judiciary shouldn’t step into the political arena, but such was the scale of Sisulu’s attack that he surely must have felt it necessary to speak up and defend his colleagues and the constitution.
In his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa again failed to specifically make any mention of Sisulu but did make reference to safeguard our hard-fought-for democracy.
He wrote: “We must safeguard against any and all efforts to diminish our hard-won democracy – whether these efforts take the form of corruption in state-owned enterprises, the subversion of our law enforcement agencies, the sabotage of our economic infrastructure, or attacks on the independence and integrity of our judiciary.”
“Attacks on the independence and integrity of our judiciary,” make of that line what you will but it might be the only thing we hear Ramaphosa say against Sisulu or others who seek to weaken our constitutional democracy and the rule of law.
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
South Africa cannot pivot to prosperity without truly brave leaders – Daily Maverick
LUKANYO MNYANDA: How will SA get its mojo back when ANC squabbling dominates? – Business Day (for subscribers)
JUSTICE MALALA | Be grateful, SA. Ministers like Sisulu show how far the ANC has fallen – Sunday Times Daily (for subscribers)
Adriaan Basson | First they came for the judges – News24 (for subscribers)
Helen Zille is right: State Capture is not a Zuma thing — it’s a South Africa thing – Daily Maverick
Radical economic transformation ‘bulls**t’ won’t change lives of poor – Mail & Guardian
