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This section is super-entrenched: only a 75% majority of the National Assembly can change it. Its very first section proclaims that South Africa is a state founded on, among other things, ‘upremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law’. Our Constitution has the rule of law in its bones. But what is the rule of law? And what does it mean for the law to be abused in our society? South Africa is a constitutional democracy based on the rule of law. ‘Where there is no evidence that the conduct being investigated constitute a criminal offence, where the facts on which the investigation is purportedly based have mostly been discredited, and where the investigating body pursues suspects without providing any legal or factual basis for what, from afar, looks suspiciously like a politically motivated witch-hunt, platitudes about the law having to take its course will not do.’ Constitutional-law expert, Pierre de Vos, put the argument well : But here, the law is being abused, and thus, by not acquiescing, Minister Gordhan is thus not placing himself above the law. Yes, the other side concedes, of course Minister Gordhan is not above the law. As EFF leader Julius Malema wrote in the City Press: ‘He must be seen to respect state institutions, always humbling himself to respond to their call.’ The first was that Pravin Gordhan was not above the law and that he should have obeyed the Hawks’ request. When, back in August, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan refused to present himself to the Hawks to give a warning statement, the resulting debate had two sides. Prosecutors’ offices may be bent to the task as well, bringing cases under repressive NGO laws, tax laws, or even criminal libel laws.’ĭiamond, Plattner and Walker, Authoritarianism Goes Global, 2016 Offices may be raided under various pretexts, with NGO leaders, their staffs, and even relatives hauled in for questioning and put under unwarranted surveillance. ‘Abuse of law enforcement is another arrow in the authoritarians’ quiver.
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