Why SA’s Constitution is under attack
For those intent on capturing the state, the Constitution is an inconvenience that inhibits the prosecution of their venal interests
SA’s Constitution, greatly lauded around the world and the product of Nelson Mandela’s democratic transition of the mid-1990s, is under attack. It is being blamed in some quarters for the slow pace of socioeconomic transformation in the country. As respected commentator Barney Mthombothi provocatively asked: "World’s best constitution, you say? Pity people can’t eat it." Not even 48 hours later, and with exquisite timing, the Constitutional Court provided at least one of the many available answers when it demanded that the Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini and one of her most senior officials file affidavits by 3pm that very afternoon. The court instructed them to explain why they had failed to respect deadlines it had set in a case concerning welfare grants to about 17-million of the country’s poorest people. Later that day, at exactly 11 minutes past the appointed hour, attorneys representing the minister were seen running into the court. The powerful symbolism of repr...
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