South Africa P.I.G.: SA JUSTICE SYSTEM

Showing posts with label SA JUSTICE SYSTEM. Show all posts

Justice in South Africa? It's a sick joke

More than 20 000 firearms <strike>sold to criminals</strike> lost by SAPS since April 2004 <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikln7qWciJdCXfkPhyphenhyphenTe6bmpeA8PW6iAs5KW-C1ZYXpQqCu4yBtKaSR6_8k4CvqS13rxAbi9Gra24IF0F3EJ6tbOjBORXT6o7FZcVX4wHXEAwKalXpdmU6bSG8tmGYp2qBsfJ_sdRfpzPc/s1600/cele-journalist.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582242645305933938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikln7qWciJdCXfkPhyphenhyphenTe6bmpeA8PW6iAs5KW-C1ZYXpQqCu4yBtKaSR6_8k4CvqS13rxAbi9Gra24IF0F3EJ6tbOjBORXT6o7FZcVX4wHXEAwKalXpdmU6bSG8tmGYp2qBsfJ_sdRfpzPc/s400/cele-journalist.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 278px; CURSOR: hand" /></a><a href="http://www.thestar.co.za/mps-warn-cele-and-top-brass-1.1038485?pageNumber=2">MPs GUN for SAPS top brass</a> Embattled national Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele and his top brass have been warned by MPs that lying to Parliament was a criminal offence as the department was grilled on its chaotic firearm controls. MPs came out guns blazing against police bigwigs for claiming, during previous committee meetings, that their management of firearms was under control. This followed a senior SAPS commissioner admission that there was really no system in place to monitor and safeguard firearms. Cele was not present during Tuesday’s meeting with the National Assembly committee on police. Chairwoman Sindi Chikunga said he had excused himself. Commissioner for visible policing at the SAPS, Joel Mothiba, said: “We really don’t have control of the environment (firearm controls) … we must point out that we do not have a system.” In response, angry MPs accused the police management of lying to them during previous meetings. ANC MP Annelize van Wyk said the committee’s patience with the department was wearing thin as it was not the first time information that had been provided was questioned and earlier statements disputed. “It’s a criminal offence to lie to Parliament. There will come a time when this committee has had enough of these half-truths.” DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said: “The absolute top structure (of SAPS) had sworn to us on stacks of Bibles that a system was in place. Now you mean there’s no system? “Why have we been listening to top structure saying everything (was under control) … I don’t know how you even manage to apprehend criminals. I’m absolutely gob-smacked,” Kohler Barnard said. The SAPS on Tuesday presented its report on the safeguarding of firearms to the committee. Over the past seven years, 20 429 firearms were reported lost despite 12 control measures put in place. To date, the SAPS has recovered 4 810 of the guns and no steps have been taken against any officers. The department has 264 845 firearms. On the report, Chikunga said: “The report today, if you look at it and really think about it, it’s somewhat a fatal report.” Members expressed their concern about the statistics in the report because the national department had relied on the provinces to provide the numbers, with very few actual inspections of police stations. Van Wyk said, if the figures relied on information from the provinces, “I can say without a doubt that they are wrong”. Earlier, SAPS divisional commissioner of supply chain management Gary Kruser said he had only been notified of the meeting the day before the department was scheduled to appear before the committee. “So we had to put the presentation together in a rush.” Chikunga took issue with this, saying the SAPS had been handed the committee’s schedule in October. “It’s surprising that only yesterday people were told. I’m not sure what this means … I have a problem with the document being prepared one day before the meeting. Even if the national commissioner (Cele) could not come he should have prepared the people who came. (That it was) only prepared yesterday talks to the disorganisation on that level.” - Political BureauClick on link to see reader comments: <a href="http://www.thestar.co.za/mps-warn-cele-and-top-brass-1.1038485?pageNumber=2">http://www.thestar.co.za/mps-warn-cele-and-top-brass-1.1038485?pageNumber=2</a> 91,216 REPORTED MURDERS 2005-2010 - ONLY 27,648 IN PRISON FOR MURDER - 20 429 FIREARMS have been 'lost' in the police force since April 2004 and no steps have been taken against any police officers! Politicsweb note: The total number of reported crimes, according to the SAPS, between 2005 and 2010 for the following categories are: Murder, 91,216; Sexual crimes 335,941, Robbery 327,633, Robbery with Aggravating circumstances 599,743; residential burglary 1,253, 246. <a class="read_more" href="http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71656?oid=225314&sn=Detail&pid=71616">Read more</a> Source: <a href="http://www.politicsweb.co.za/">http://www.politicsweb.co.za/</a>

Justice in South Africa? It's a sick joke

More than 20 000 firearms sold to criminals lost by SAPS since April 2004 MPs GUN for SAPS top brass Embattled national Police Commissione...

3:50 PM

Uproar over new Zapiro cartoon

The latest Zapiro cartoon in the Mail & Guardian has incensed the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), who blasted it as "distasteful" and "deplorable". The cartoon depicts President Jacob Zuma undoing his pants as Eugene De Kock and Schabir Shaik hold down lady justice. The infamous showerhead sketched above Zuma's head is etched closer to the president's head. A speech bubble has Zuma saying: "Begging your pardon." The cartoon relates to applications for a presidential pardon from both De Kock and Shaik. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427009270764924562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jE3_AqWfJjiQM0xqT8wVry2AndgHsS4yAQVBHluO4pOulzX-Kl6kZ3Iboni3uRZDNZt0rc4VuDhpMI-J3ASAqQoUTRGaq0M1OpCPhYHeWZl1b4ggQLg6MKGUj5KIUl1kfdFFVlfaeeHO/s400/zumaxzapiro.gif" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 295px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Numsa said the caricature "implants in the minds of the public" that Zuma is a rapist despite being cleared of rape charges by a court of law. "This venomous and personal hatred of President Zuma camouflaged as an artistic skill by Zapiro is a sign of disrespect not only to President Zuma, but to the office and the position he occupies in society as the fourth democratically elected head of state," the union said in a statement. "Whilst we respect and uphold the Constitution and freedom of expression, it does not give cartoonists licence to undermine the fundamental rights to dignity as guaranteed in the Constitution." It also described the cartoon as "reckless" through depicting a woman about to be raped in a country wracked by violence and abuse against women. Numsa demanded that the newspaper and Zapiro apologise to Zuma and that the South African Human Rights Commission take action against the cartoonist.

Uproar over new Zapiro cartoon

The latest Zapiro cartoon in the Mail & Guardian has incensed the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), who blasted it...

8:41 AM

More than a million unsolved crimes in SA

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrJs7opIvNio1Sr_Cwbm3PVFVR6FzpZFePAjd5CL9Xq-TmQrTLVM9Pm9BwqmIkd6uf3P6AfIa9pDG14Wq7Zice1xrX2OM-uBr-TrTtKQClZInk_u2W5uCIwjFWhf9P90OpX_rR1m8fco/s1600-h/crimes-10million.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374068681604000930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrJs7opIvNio1Sr_Cwbm3PVFVR6FzpZFePAjd5CL9Xq-TmQrTLVM9Pm9BwqmIkd6uf3P6AfIa9pDG14Wq7Zice1xrX2OM-uBr-TrTtKQClZInk_u2W5uCIwjFWhf9P90OpX_rR1m8fco/s400/crimes-10million.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 280px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a>More than a million of the two million criminal cases reported annually in South Africa are never solved. "The cases seem to get lost somewhere -- they fall through the cracks. We have to ensure cases are not filtered out," said Willie Scholtz, head of the South African Criminal Justice System working group. Scholtz blamed inadequate collection of evidence at crime scenes, insufficient investigation of crimes, trials that ran for an extremely long time, and ineffective court processes for the country's 10,3% conviction rate in criminal cases. Prosecutors and Legal Aid Board attorneys also played a role by "endlessly delaying cases". Scholtz heads up a team that assisted with a review of the criminal justice system. -- Sapa Related:- <a class="l" href="http://www.iol.co.za/widgets/rss_redirect.php?artid=nw20090820071532777C823473&setid=1&sectid=13&url=iol&vne=0&csect=South+Africa" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','res','3','&sig2=Xt5nalNDUBozHEodnKfEFg')">News - South Africa: SA's million unsolved crime cases</a> <a href="http://citizenalertza.blogspot.com/2009/08/cases-seem-to-get-lost-somewhere-103.html">"Cases seem to get lost somewhere "10.3 % convicti...</a>

More than a million unsolved crimes in SA

More than a million of the two million criminal cases reported annually in South Africa are never solved. "The cases seem to get lost s...

1:36 PM

Dept of Justice missing transcripts could free hundreds of prisoners

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiXx9e23HwVUEWDvKXqrk1pXnIN_BTl75HzQWEQPe3jI8B1_17MjwY_SY-eGIWIBCbmL1ijaK95KDlCf5YH-15oCrjEd7h5SgwJIBlGa9NWpwO8STY8OCqOFxDCkAaQDI59lRM-JjDrUM/s1600-h/Monkies_in_library.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370572208180614466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiXx9e23HwVUEWDvKXqrk1pXnIN_BTl75HzQWEQPe3jI8B1_17MjwY_SY-eGIWIBCbmL1ijaK95KDlCf5YH-15oCrjEd7h5SgwJIBlGa9NWpwO8STY8OCqOFxDCkAaQDI59lRM-JjDrUM/s400/Monkies_in_library.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 315px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a>Hundreds of prisoners, convicted of serious crimes including murder, could be freed due to bureaucratic bungling. At least 400 serious offenders could walk out of jail because the transcripts of their trials have apparently been lost by the Department of Justice or are "inaccessible" - and a judge could set aside their convictions and sentences and let them go. They would be freed because their constitutional right to appeal had been infringed. They are all prisoners trying to appeal their convictions and/or sentences before the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), or petitioning the SCA for leave to appeal, but neither of these can be done without transcripts. Lawyers are struggling to draft the necessary petitions because, according to a leaked internal memo of Legal Aid SA (Lasa), previously the Legal Aid Board, "the Department of Justice and its officially-appointed transcribers have been unable to provide" certain required records to Lasa attorneys. The memo continues: "It was recommended to Lasa management some time ago that action be instituted against the Department of Justice to force them to provide us with the records we require, alternatively to have the sentences of our clients affected by this problem set aside on the basis that clients are being denied their rights to appeal due to the actions or omissions of the department." The justice department is aware of the situation and its representatives are, with those of Lasa, trying to find "a solution". The 400 prisoners referred to are in the Gauteng area alone and the number applies only to prisoners whose cases are being handled by Lasa. In other words, there might be thousands, not just hundreds, of missing transcripts. According to Brian Nair, the national operations executive of Lasa, difficulties related to obtaining records have been going on for two years. Another senior official at Lasa, who did not want to be identified, said: "We're going softly-softly on this, we're trying to be as understanding as possible about the department's problems, even though we represent the prisoners, because we know that it would not exactly be a boon to society if hundreds of criminals were released on a technicality. "Still, something needs to be done by the department quickly, or 400 criminals could be released - not for the correct reasons. We are all between a rock and a hard place," he said. Of the 440 "problematic" petitions that Lasa attorneys are working on in Gauteng, in 200 matters there are no transcripts available and, in the other 240 matters, the attorneys have been told that they had requested information that was simply "not available". Nair confirmed that in many cases, Lasa had requested "as long ago as 18 months, the transcript of proceedings from the transcriber, but have not yet received a particular transcript". Lasa's Johannesburg Justice Centre, he said, "had requested transcripts in approximately 200 matters over the past 24 months, none of which have been received". Nair said that Lasa had not yet initiated any court application against the Department of Justice. The nub of the matter appears to be that the company that won the most recent tender for transcription services, LOM Business Solutions, has been unable to access, technically as well as physically, cases captured by the previous contractor. But Obakeng Masenamela, the managing director of LOM, denied that his company was culpable. He conceded that his company could not supply certain transcripts, but said the cause was twofold. "First, the Department of Justice has been unable to give us the necessary audio tapes - so obviously we cannot transcribe them," said Masenamela. "Second," he continued, "the previous contractor has failed to hand over certain material for which it was responsible and/or in some cases our machines and theirs are not compatible." The prisoners trying to petition the SCA, the ones dealing with Lasa, were the people on the bottom rung of the whole system, said Golden Miles Bhudu, the chairman of South African Prisoners for Human Rights. "They do not have the luxury of appointing private lawyers and they depend entirely on legal aid attorneys, who themselves have such a big backlog. "So they are not a priority - and then, when their transcripts have been lost, well, they sit around for years." Louis Hanekom, the acting director of court operations for the Department of Justice, said the department could only respond to "allegations" if it was given full particulars about each of the missing transcripts.

Dept of Justice missing transcripts could free hundreds of prisoners

Hundreds of prisoners, convicted of serious crimes including murder, could be freed due to bureaucratic bungling. At least 400 serious offen...

6:12 AM

South African society producing young people who commit serious crimes

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPQpsC1MljINAzCbr3xJYcwqdcCopr0yaV-779xlmlljQnnZof-_fRtf2xAKjbc37WwFhd1zAfAqffmRCoVqDI8AG93ukyYeZHOcgPaK8SGHQTGb5jZ4dDkcXLH7eELh4MW1izYg22dQ/s1600-h/prisons-sa-youth.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361704042897991410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPQpsC1MljINAzCbr3xJYcwqdcCopr0yaV-779xlmlljQnnZof-_fRtf2xAKjbc37WwFhd1zAfAqffmRCoVqDI8AG93ukyYeZHOcgPaK8SGHQTGb5jZ4dDkcXLH7eELh4MW1izYg22dQ/s400/prisons-sa-youth.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 290px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 211px" /></a>THE growing number of young people in already overcrowded South African prisons was a cause for concern, said the new Department of Correctional Services (DCS) Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula yesterday. Mapisa-Nqakula, accompanied by her deputy Hlengiwe Mkhize, was visiting the Boksburg Correctional Centre on the fourth leg of their regional visits to familiarise themselves with correctional services. She was shocked to find a number of young people, some aged 15, being held in the Boksburg prison for serious crimes. Boksburg houses 554 juveniles, most of them serious offenders serving long sentences, including life terms. In a statement issued by the DCS shortly after the visit, Mapisa-Nqakula said she was becoming aware of the reality of a South African society which produced young people who committed serious crimes. The minister also met with the correctional services area commissioners for Johannesburg, Krugersdorp, Baviaanspoort, Modderbee, Zonderwater, Pretoria and Leeuwkop. They made presentations about their facilities to a delegation which included acting national commissioner Jennifer Schreiner. They outlined their achievements and challenges, such as overcrowding, with a 65 percent rate of overcrowding at the Krugersdorp Correctional Centre and 100 percent at Johannesburg. Other issues raised were gangsterism, the plight of babies with their incarcerated mothers and HIV/Aids. Mapisa- Nqakula heard that of 16000 awaiting-trial prisoners in Gauteng, only 3000 got bail. Her department saw this as a demonstration of the seriousness of their offences. Mapisa- Nqakula said the magnitude of the prisons problem was beyond correctional services. It required society to take responsibility for rehabilitation. Boksburg impressed the DCS delegation with rehabilitation workshops producing furniture, clothes, steelworks and bread to the value of R22 million a year for government departments. Mapisa-Nqakula said her department was working closely with the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster and adopting international best practice to address overcrowding in prisons. She called for more non-custodial sentences where offenders did not pose a threat to society. She pointed out that at the Qalakabusha Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, a task team had been established to manage people charged with minor or petty crimes. The minister and her delegation are still to visit prisons in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Free State and the Northern Cape.

South African society producing young people who commit serious crimes

THE growing number of young people in already overcrowded South African prisons was a cause for concern, said the new Department of Correcti...

10:06 AM

Criminal justice shame

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvT2vMQY47uYJo31iCY_EdI7x_jlmkvUcXb-D2PoKQRXZzmnEkaFNStnk1EuLsP02H8aKS35p59bdwIcDLjzKqZf-e3hde1V7mJE0IWQscFpbjME_9WGQm-uCpNU7fbuJCL09piWo1pRI/s1600-h/prison-bunks21.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356933905024474722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvT2vMQY47uYJo31iCY_EdI7x_jlmkvUcXb-D2PoKQRXZzmnEkaFNStnk1EuLsP02H8aKS35p59bdwIcDLjzKqZf-e3hde1V7mJE0IWQscFpbjME_9WGQm-uCpNU7fbuJCL09piWo1pRI/s400/prison-bunks21.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 264px" /></a>One in four prisoners - 40 000 people - should not be behind bars, according to South Africa's monitor of prisons. This emerged in a searing indictment of the criminal justice system by Judge Deon van Zyl of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, who was briefing a parliamentary portfolio committee on Wednesday. He painted an ugly picture of the state of awaiting-trial prisoners and a police inability to conclude cases, prolonging the detention period of inmates - some facing minor charges. Given the high number of awaiting-trial suspects, it seemed police measured their success on the number of arrests, and not convictions, Van Zyl said. Van Zyl told the multiparty committee he was certain that out of the 50 000 awaiting-trial prisoners, 40 000 would be released because of lack of evidence. The judge said out of the prison population of 165 000 inmates, 50 000 were awaiting trial. "There are too many people awaiting trial," the judge stated. He accused police officers of not properly investigating cases, and postponing matters in the courts for months and even years, resulting in some inmates succumbing to illnesses. "You don't postpone the matter until you know there is a bona fide investigation going on. Why are our magistrates allowing matters to be postponed?" asked Van Zyl. The judge said he would like to see the number of unsentenced prisoners halved as soon as possible to reduce overcrowding in prisons. This could be done through releasing detainees who posed no threat to society. He said he would for the next three years focus his energies in correcting this defect: "I don't want to be a watchdog. I want to play a role in the review of the criminal justice system," Van Zyl said. Lukas Muntingh of the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative said last night that research into three court districts had shown that about half of the cases against awaiting-trial detainees were later dropped. "Why do the police arrest someone in the first case if there is no good case against him? That amounts to arbitrary detention," he said. Muntingh added that people who had been arrested should be offered the option of a plea bargain in the first few hours after their arrest. This could help avoid unnecessary detention and keep prison numbers down. "About half of the awaiting-trial detainees have been in detention for three or four months," he said. He added that he recently heard of a detainee in Pretoria Central prison who had been waiting for nine years for his case to be concluded. On deaths in prison, Van Zyl said 500 prisoners had died in the past six months. Van Zyl told MPs that a number of inmates were raped and sexually assaulted, with some contracting sexually transmitted diseases. There were instances where police arrested a healthy individual who died later of natural causes while awaiting trial. "What is worrying us is that in the first six months (of this year) we have had 500 deaths. We are told those are natural deaths. I would like to see every single death followed by a post-mortem or inquiry. "Why was that person subjected to rape (or) sexual assault on the first day of his arrival, as a result six months later he is dead?" asked Van Zyl. In a previous report, the inspectorate's statistics showed that 37 percent of prisoners who died in custody did so within the first 12 months of custody, and 62 percent had occurred within the first three years.

Criminal justice shame

One in four prisoners - 40 000 people - should not be behind bars, according to South Africa's monitor of prisons. This emerged in a sea...

1:03 PM

The Constitution: Just a piece of paper?

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzysYRRXgUzb-D_nJo7yRhygT73lScE_i37DScmss6NKdBz25PnzE80nLsS9rJWhCNMSDmOUkFE1Jq_wO18V74WYa71J0DCYxL9kPkgjPOCYUWHn-1CJgfUu-Qcxdq0QxY-9sTXgcFHqA/s1600-h/Bill%2520of%2520Rights.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349178077929866178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzysYRRXgUzb-D_nJo7yRhygT73lScE_i37DScmss6NKdBz25PnzE80nLsS9rJWhCNMSDmOUkFE1Jq_wO18V74WYa71J0DCYxL9kPkgjPOCYUWHn-1CJgfUu-Qcxdq0QxY-9sTXgcFHqA/s400/Bill%2520of%2520Rights.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 289px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 339px" /></a>An uproar is brewing in legal and civil society circles who accuse the department of justice of challenging the supremacy of the Constitution. They say a draft Bill the department has quietly introduced aims to change the Constitution in a way that will make Parliament's decisions on one particular Act immune to the scrutiny of the Constitution. The public has until July 1 to comment on the Bill. It's in the Government Gazette, but no one's really picked it up. The call for public comments is also published on the department of justice's <a href="http://www.doj.gov.za/legislation/invitations/20090601_GGNo32289.pdf">website</a>. . Jonathan Berger, senior researcher at the Aids Law Project, says the Bill "sends all the wrong signals. We want confidence in our judiciary, and we don't want people to see us as a country where the government changes the Constitution if it doesn't like the rule of law." The proposed legislation comes following a seven-year saga centred on enforcing debts that the government owes to the public as compensation. In 2002, Dingaan Nyathi suffered a stroke due to negligence at two Gauteng state hospitals. Although the state admitted negligence, it did not pay him damages until much later, and then not the full amount. Because of this, Nyathi could not pay for the medical care he needed, and died five years later. Nyathi had little power to enforce payment from the government because of the State Liability Act of 1957, which prohibits people owed money by the state from "executing debts against the government by attaching government property", according to the Aids Law Project. Following Nyathi's death, the Constitutional Court ruled last year that this Act was unconstitutional, and gave the justice department a year in which to amend it. But by this month, it had not done so and requested an extension, which will last till the end of August. In what De Vos calls a "quick-fix" attempt to get around making the amendment, the department has published the draft Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill which, if passed, will insert a new section into the Constitution, making Parliament the supreme decision-maker when it comes to the state owing money to the South African public. The department has once again requested more time. If the extension is refused, it means the unconstitutional section of the Act will fall away, and people will be able to attach state property. But if the extension is granted, the department will go ahead with its attempt to amend the Constitution. Berger says the department's attempt gives the impression that the Constitution is a "barrier to getting things done" and that "it's a very dangerous route to embark on if it is so easy to amend the Constitution when it gets in the way". But Zolile Nqayi, spokesperson for the minister of justice, says, "A Constitutional amendment appears to be necessary to mandate a new State Liability Bill. It was never and will never be our intention to undermine the supremacy of the Constitution. This has repeatedly been stated by government." Pierre de Vos, professor of constitutional law at the University of the Western Cape, says that this amendment may not necessarily be malicious towards the Constitution. "One doesn't know whether this is being done out of disrespect for the Constitution or a lack of understanding of what the [amendment] actually entails. Sometimes people's stupidity has no boundaries." He says that the amendment shows that the "government doesn't take seriously the challenges that poor litigants face", and if this amendment is passed, and the disallowing of attachment of state property remains in the State Liability Act, then "unless you have someone with money to help you, you're not going to get your money". Nqayi said "public participation is a very important part of the legislative process and ... this process is guided and informed by the Constitution ... Comments received on the two Bills will be considered and the Bills will, if necessary, be adapted in line with the comments before they are resubmitted to Cabinet for approval." De Vos says that the majority of the previous amendments bills were passed, but those were requesting technical changes. This one, however, "is a direct response to a Constitutional Court judgement, which will effectively overturn the judgment if passed, and prevents testing against the Bill of Rights". "This is a time to remember that the Constitution is just a piece of paper," says De Vos, "and if civil society is not prepared to stand up for it, no matter who is in government, it will be easy for them to make changes whenever they want."

The Constitution: Just a piece of paper?

An uproar is brewing in legal and civil society circles who accuse the department of justice of challenging the supremacy of the Constitutio...

11:50 AM

Spooks haunt our democracy

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTyXj3JY4cRaMjkTJnmvoAepfK2LiBOYuZ4214lnk1mbhFqsYi40RSOJF-XxWmRXF65xLkltMtqtKBNjInwK9TjVB8qBSv3lclt7eFJPBN3hgVdmxUDdNQUotubqyz6mkZjpYaeryX-H3s/s1600-h/zuma-malema-me.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338622424059461810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTyXj3JY4cRaMjkTJnmvoAepfK2LiBOYuZ4214lnk1mbhFqsYi40RSOJF-XxWmRXF65xLkltMtqtKBNjInwK9TjVB8qBSv3lclt7eFJPBN3hgVdmxUDdNQUotubqyz6mkZjpYaeryX-H3s/s400/zuma-malema-me.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 299px" /></a>Nothing demonstrates the power of secret information more starkly than the withdrawal of corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma. The leaking of intercepted communications of Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy revealed how partisan to Thabo Mbeki’s cause he had become and gave the National Prosecuting Authority a reason to abandon the case against Zuma. But the revelation of the McCarthy intercepts, showing that the intelligence services effectively spied on their own president, are merely the most blatant manifestation of the pervasive influence of spies on our politics. The issue of who is more guilty of abusing the security services is still a matter of fierce contestation. That much is clear from our ground-breaking interviews with former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils and the man he sacked, former National Intelligence Agency (NIA) boss Billy Masetlha. They were two of the most important protagonists in the secret (and not so secret) war that had gripped the nation ever since then national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka and his Scorpions became both a vehicle of and a target in the battle between the Mbeki and Zuma factions of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The clouds had already gathered around the Hefer Commission in late 2003 -- a piece of political theatre supposed to vindicate Ngcuka and humiliate those accusing him of having been an apartheid spy -- Mac Maharaj and Moe Shaik. Instead the commission exposed the political impact of spies and spying as well as the way our security services might be abused despite their constitutional fig leaf. After the 2004 election Mbeki conducted a mini-purge of the security services. Out went intelligence minister Lindiwe Sisulu, in came Kasrils. Out went NIA director general Vusi Mavimbela, in came someone perceived as a reliable Mbeki loyalist: Masetlha — a remarkable error of judgement. By August 2005 Masetlha was deeply embroiled in the “hoax email” saga. The emails were a bizarre concoction of fact and fantastic misinformation for which Masetlha still disowns responsibility. They purported to be intercepts of communications among Mbeki’s most prominent backers -- businessman Saki Macozoma, Kasrils, then deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and her husband Bulelani -- involving themselves with the Scorpions in an anti-Zuma plot. By October 19 2005 Masetlha had made an official report to Mbeki, providing the president with the “real” evidence about the anti-Zuma conspiracy. Masetlha was suspended the next day and later dismissed, after an investigation by the inspector general of intelligence accused him of misusing his powers to launch a politically motivated intelligence operation. The so-called Zuma tapes have been leaked and provide some backing for Masetlha’s version. Both Kasrils and Masetlha claim to have acted in the national interest. Each, in effect, accuses the other of serious misuse of the security architecture to promote narrow and illegitimate political and financial interests. Both men reveal events and attitudes that should cause concern. Kasrils’s admission that he vigorously engaged with McCarthy over the timing of the decision to recharge Zuma will add to perceptions of the political management of the whole case. Masetlha’s emphasis on the re-purification of the ANC as an antidote to the seductions of power appears naïve at best. Untangling the truth about the abuses of core state institutions is vital, because this saga has struck at the foundations of our constitutional order. We have allegations of the manufacture of evidence; the influencing of and the spying on judges; the suborning of the national interest by foreign intelligence services. Closer to home, it appears that journalists on this newspaper have been the targets of dirty tricks — simply because they were doing their jobs by investigating corruption and abuses of power. Getting to the truth is all the more important because the architecture of spying is more powerful than ever. Given the experience of the last few years one might expect policy-makers to be thinking about curbs on the intelligence agencies. Instead we now have a Ministry of State Security, we have a new Leonard McCarthy in the shape of Anwa Dramat — and key ANC strategists are saying that our national levels of lawlessness demand greater security encroachment, not less. The temptation will be for the victors in these spy wars to simply appropriate for their own ends the tools supposedly abused by their predecessors. One former senior intelligence official told the Mail & Guardian this week: “Intelligence is juicy to know; it’s addictive, it feeds the ego of the client. If that client has an addictive personality, then you’re doomed.” It seems clear that this is a national addiction, thriving as much in the Zuma camp as it did under Mbeki.

Spooks haunt our democracy

Nothing demonstrates the power of secret information more starkly than the withdrawal of corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma. Th...

5:04 AM

A golden handshaik?

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHzw-OpYw1usSIFk7abBYOfykoDTJcjqkSsdaWTEOwEdM0rv3Bw_JJdOcA60xdGTf7PPPZmrohpYySIB_hc8D8oktx6omLT42er7SK69y7GdstKRMXQfotv2wsUZ9bygipbm6GTbDN9k/s1600-h/hand_shaik.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311680149803903154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHzw-OpYw1usSIFk7abBYOfykoDTJcjqkSsdaWTEOwEdM0rv3Bw_JJdOcA60xdGTf7PPPZmrohpYySIB_hc8D8oktx6omLT42er7SK69y7GdstKRMXQfotv2wsUZ9bygipbm6GTbDN9k/s400/hand_shaik.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a>Schabir Shaik's release on medical parole has sent me into a bit of a panic. My mother suffers from hypertension; I have a friend who struggles with depression; and I occasionally get chest pains. Are we all about to die? I'd hate to trivialise a dying man's suffering, but that is all we, the public, have been told about Shaik's condition. High blood pressure is a controllable chronic disorder; depression is a treatable mood disorder; and chest pains could be an indication of a heart problem, but they could just as easily be an indication of indigestion. I'm willing to bet a month's salary (admittedly not very much) that if you subjected all the inmates at C-Max or Pollsmoor to a medical examination, you would find that the majority of them suffer from hypertension, depression and the occasional chest pain. They are, after all, incarcerated under unpleasant conditions. You would probably also find a fairly high number of individuals who were HIV positive. Some would even be close to death. If the stats given out by the SA Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights are anything to go by, approximately 2500 inmates died in South African prisons last year. Only 25 people have been granted medical parole since April 2008. So, how did a guy with high blood pressure, depression and chest pains crack the list? That, for the record, was a rhetorical question. The Correctional Services Act is pretty clear about who qualifies for medical parole: you need to be in the "final phase of any terminal disease or condition". And the purpose of the parole is not so that you can convalesce from the comfort of your luxury home, but rather so that you can "die a consolatory and dignified death". If Schabir Shaik dies within the next three months, I will unreservedly apologise for callously questioning his integrity and that of those responsible for his release. I will admit that serving only two years and fours months of a 15-year sentence is acceptable when you only have two years and seven months to live. However, if he doesn't die, those responsible for his early release should be held accountable. The three medical practitioners who provided the medical expertise on Shaik's terminal condition should be hauled before the medical council and, if found guilty of malpractice, should be stripped of their medical licences. They should also face a court of law for providing false testimony which led to the illegal release of a convicted criminal. The members of the Parole Board who sanctioned the parole should be investigated and, if found to have benefited in any way from the decision, should face legal action. Finally, if anyone (no names mentioned) has tried to influence the duration of Shaik's stay in prison, they too should be dragged before a court of law. Schabir Shaik is entitled to confidentiality regarding the nature of his illness, but the public is also entitled to a reasonable explanation for his early release. Without it, it is impossible to shake the impression that this is a travesty of justice. Without it, the people of South Africa will lose any faith they may have had in the justice system. Without it, the doctors, the parole board, the Shaiks and the ANC look guilty as hell.

A golden handshaik?

Schabir Shaik's release on medical parole has sent me into a bit of a panic. My mother suffers from hypertension; I have a friend who st...

1:48 PM

South Africa P.I.G.