Way back in 1998, American constitutional theorist Prof Karl Klare published a now famous article in which he set out to define South Africa’s post-apartheid constitutional project. He called this ‘transformative constitutionalism’ and defined it as follows: ‘a long-term project of constitutional enactment, interpretation, and enforcement committed (not in isolation, of course, but in a […]
constitutionalism
Posted inNews/Politics
The ConCourt vs provincial legislatures
The Constitutional Court recently handed down judgment regarding the nature and scope of the powers of provincial legislatures. The judgment, Premier: Limpopo Province vs Speaker of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature and others, (2011) (Limpopo 1) was a consequence of the Constitutional Court’s finding in Premier: Limpopo Province vs Speaker: Limpopo Provincial Legislature and others, (2012) […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mbeki’s meekness was a critical weakness
Ousted former president Thabo Mbeki exited with quiet dignity. Privately, however, he warned of potential disaster under Jacob Zuma, who at the party’s Polokwane conference had engineered a miraculous political rehabilitation, to turn the tables on the man who had fired him. Mbeki, according to Mark Gevisser’s biography, predicted that Zuma would reduce South Africa […]