Councillor's Corner
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| To Advertise In This Space CLICK HERE FOR A FREE QUOTE |
| To Advertise In This Space CLICK HERE FOR A FREE QUOTE |
Lifetime Bluff resident serving his third term in office as representative
of the area. Member of the Democratic Alliance.
of the area. Member of the Democratic Alliance.
This weeks Councillor comments
| Duncan Du Bois |
Phone:467-0343 or mobile:083 291-4913
Municipal Manager - Dr Sutcliffe: Tel 311-2130 ;
SutcliffeM@durban.gov.za
SutcliffeM@durban.gov.za
Report dumping or unauthorised use of verges; Phone 311-7448
Metro All-Call / All hours Tel No.: 361-0000
Metro Police: Tel 402-0680
Brighton Beach SAPS: Tel 451 8060 / 8059
Brighton Beach Community Policing Forum Chairman: Carl Knauff : 082 449-6503
ROAD REPAIRS and SMASHED DRAINS - Toll free call: 080 13 13 013
Or - email: eservices@dmws.durban.gov.za
Metro All-Call / All hours Tel No.: 361-0000
Metro Police: Tel 402-0680
Brighton Beach SAPS: Tel 451 8060 / 8059
Brighton Beach Community Policing Forum Chairman: Carl Knauff : 082 449-6503
ROAD REPAIRS and SMASHED DRAINS - Toll free call: 080 13 13 013
Or - email: eservices@dmws.durban.gov.za
Useful Contacts
| South Durban Community Environmental Alliance |
| To Advertise In This Space CLICK HERE FOR A FREE QUOTE |
| Educating for Eternity |
Disclaimer: The views expressed are not necessarily those of the owners & publishers of this website and the accuracy is not guaranteed.
| Visitor Number |
| Bluff Ward 66 Sub Pages |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Is the Constitution being sidelined?
•Fri, 12 Oct 2007
The pursuit of transformation is at the expense of good governance, writes DUNCAN DU BOIS
Consternation rages at events concerning the firing of the national director of the National Prosecuting
Authority (NPA), the controversy surrounding the National Police Commissioner and the decision of the
Judicial Services Commission (JSC) concerning Judge John Hlophe. Despite clear constitutional
guidelines on the ethics expected of all concerned, the agenda of transformation, it would seem, enjoys
priority.
Sections 165 and 195 of the Constitution are unambiguous in prescribing the character of the
institutions they govern and the calibre of the individuals appointed to serve in them. In the case of
judicial authority, the courts are required to apply the law “impartially and without fear, favour or
prejudice”. Those in public administration, which includes the judiciary, are expected to have “a high
standard of professional ethics” which they must promote and maintain.
It goes without saying, then, that those occupying the top rungs of constitutional structures should be
role models and exemplify the norms and values prescribed by the Constitution for holders of such
offices. If such conduct is not displayed at that level, it is unlikely to be enforced at lower levels. The
efficacy of law and order hinges on the credibility and integrity of the police and courts. In a country with
sky-high crime levels, those entrusted with administering law and order need to be beyond reproach.
Where would discipline be in school if the head teachers were openly linked to crime syndicates of
which the headmaster was aware but failed to investigate and appeared to condone?
In the case of the National Police Commissioner, Jackie Selebi, his appointment, made in 2000, was
inappropriate. He was the first commissioner who did not come from a police background. As far back
as 2003 he was named in a dossier compiled by the Scorpions as having played golf, holidayed and
dined with gangsters and criminals. He accepted expensive gifts from the late controversial tycoon Brett
Kebble and from Kebble’s friend, Glenn Agliotti, who is facing narcotics charges, and has been
implicated in Kebble’s murder. According to the Sunday Times of September 30, despite denials, a
warrant for Selebi’s arrest does exist and relates to charges of corruption and defeating the ends of
justice.
In the real world such a situation would have been resolved as a matter of urgency. The accused would
have been suspended from his post pending a full inquiry. Yet with the exception of Jacob Zuma, former
deputy health minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge and NPA boss Vusi Pikoli, none of whom faced
charges like Selebi, the record of the Mbeki government in removing the incompetent and the corrupt
from office is a resounding zero. Instead they are redeployed and often promoted in the process.
A situation of drift
Yet as head of state, President Thabo Mbeki is sworn to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution.
Blunder number one was surely the appointment of Selebi as National Police Commissioner. This has
since been compounded by Mbeki’s failure to exercise the kind of oversight the Constitution prescribes
especially in the face of the very critical charges brought against Selebi. The whole situation of drift and
seeming condonation suggests the pursuit of an agenda of transformation at the expense of good
governance, as the Constitution requires.
Lending substance to this is the claim by “some cabinet ministers”, as reported in the Sunday Times,
that they were being sidelined and left out of the loop by Mbeki. If that is the case it would seem to affirm
the adage that a fish rots from the head.
These serious miscarriages of governance in the executive branch of government are eclipsed by more
serious ones in the judiciary. The decision by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) not to
recommend the impeachment of the Judge President of the Cape Provincial Division is outrageous.
What should have been a case of nolo contendere when Hlophe admitted that he had been paid by an
outside investment company on a monthly basis and then used his judicial authority to permit that
company to sue one of his junior colleagues, has left the impression that the Constitution is being
sidelined in favour of a political agenda.
Critics of apartheid invariably conceded that the one branch of government which resisted politicisation
and maintained its independence, despite apartheid, was the judiciary. However, the Hlophe decision
by the JSC has severely shaken that view. As an editorial in the Mercury (October 8) stated: “The JSC
has failed the administration of justice, failed the Constitution and failed the people of this country.”
The Cape Bar Council has expressed great unhappiness over the JSC’s actions. Retired appeal court
and constitutional judge Johann Kriegler has stated that Hlophe is “unfit for office” while nine advocates
have called on Hlophe to retire as a judge.
Why have details of the JSC’s findings and its vote on Hlophe not been disclosed? Where is
transparency and accountability? Why does the Black Lawyers Association insist that the very status of
the JSC renders its findings beyond reproach? Does the fact that Mbeki sanctions the appointment of
15 of the 23 members of the JSC, with one further member being a cabinet minister, not facilitate the
advancement of an agenda of transformation?
The road to ruin in Zimbabwe had similar beginnings. A recent cartoon in a Durban newspaper
depicting top officials and organs of government as mere puppets, it would seem, is not inaccurate.
• Duncan Du Bois is a Durban Metro DA ward councillor. He writes in his private capacity.
Published: 12 October 2007
•Fri, 12 Oct 2007
The pursuit of transformation is at the expense of good governance, writes DUNCAN DU BOIS
Consternation rages at events concerning the firing of the national director of the National Prosecuting
Authority (NPA), the controversy surrounding the National Police Commissioner and the decision of the
Judicial Services Commission (JSC) concerning Judge John Hlophe. Despite clear constitutional
guidelines on the ethics expected of all concerned, the agenda of transformation, it would seem, enjoys
priority.
Sections 165 and 195 of the Constitution are unambiguous in prescribing the character of the
institutions they govern and the calibre of the individuals appointed to serve in them. In the case of
judicial authority, the courts are required to apply the law “impartially and without fear, favour or
prejudice”. Those in public administration, which includes the judiciary, are expected to have “a high
standard of professional ethics” which they must promote and maintain.
It goes without saying, then, that those occupying the top rungs of constitutional structures should be
role models and exemplify the norms and values prescribed by the Constitution for holders of such
offices. If such conduct is not displayed at that level, it is unlikely to be enforced at lower levels. The
efficacy of law and order hinges on the credibility and integrity of the police and courts. In a country with
sky-high crime levels, those entrusted with administering law and order need to be beyond reproach.
Where would discipline be in school if the head teachers were openly linked to crime syndicates of
which the headmaster was aware but failed to investigate and appeared to condone?
In the case of the National Police Commissioner, Jackie Selebi, his appointment, made in 2000, was
inappropriate. He was the first commissioner who did not come from a police background. As far back
as 2003 he was named in a dossier compiled by the Scorpions as having played golf, holidayed and
dined with gangsters and criminals. He accepted expensive gifts from the late controversial tycoon Brett
Kebble and from Kebble’s friend, Glenn Agliotti, who is facing narcotics charges, and has been
implicated in Kebble’s murder. According to the Sunday Times of September 30, despite denials, a
warrant for Selebi’s arrest does exist and relates to charges of corruption and defeating the ends of
justice.
In the real world such a situation would have been resolved as a matter of urgency. The accused would
have been suspended from his post pending a full inquiry. Yet with the exception of Jacob Zuma, former
deputy health minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge and NPA boss Vusi Pikoli, none of whom faced
charges like Selebi, the record of the Mbeki government in removing the incompetent and the corrupt
from office is a resounding zero. Instead they are redeployed and often promoted in the process.
A situation of drift
Yet as head of state, President Thabo Mbeki is sworn to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution.
Blunder number one was surely the appointment of Selebi as National Police Commissioner. This has
since been compounded by Mbeki’s failure to exercise the kind of oversight the Constitution prescribes
especially in the face of the very critical charges brought against Selebi. The whole situation of drift and
seeming condonation suggests the pursuit of an agenda of transformation at the expense of good
governance, as the Constitution requires.
Lending substance to this is the claim by “some cabinet ministers”, as reported in the Sunday Times,
that they were being sidelined and left out of the loop by Mbeki. If that is the case it would seem to affirm
the adage that a fish rots from the head.
These serious miscarriages of governance in the executive branch of government are eclipsed by more
serious ones in the judiciary. The decision by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) not to
recommend the impeachment of the Judge President of the Cape Provincial Division is outrageous.
What should have been a case of nolo contendere when Hlophe admitted that he had been paid by an
outside investment company on a monthly basis and then used his judicial authority to permit that
company to sue one of his junior colleagues, has left the impression that the Constitution is being
sidelined in favour of a political agenda.
Critics of apartheid invariably conceded that the one branch of government which resisted politicisation
and maintained its independence, despite apartheid, was the judiciary. However, the Hlophe decision
by the JSC has severely shaken that view. As an editorial in the Mercury (October 8) stated: “The JSC
has failed the administration of justice, failed the Constitution and failed the people of this country.”
The Cape Bar Council has expressed great unhappiness over the JSC’s actions. Retired appeal court
and constitutional judge Johann Kriegler has stated that Hlophe is “unfit for office” while nine advocates
have called on Hlophe to retire as a judge.
Why have details of the JSC’s findings and its vote on Hlophe not been disclosed? Where is
transparency and accountability? Why does the Black Lawyers Association insist that the very status of
the JSC renders its findings beyond reproach? Does the fact that Mbeki sanctions the appointment of
15 of the 23 members of the JSC, with one further member being a cabinet minister, not facilitate the
advancement of an agenda of transformation?
The road to ruin in Zimbabwe had similar beginnings. A recent cartoon in a Durban newspaper
depicting top officials and organs of government as mere puppets, it would seem, is not inaccurate.
• Duncan Du Bois is a Durban Metro DA ward councillor. He writes in his private capacity.
Published: 12 October 2007
You can contact Councillor D Du Bois by e-mail @ dubois@axxess.co.za