Paranoia, and a breach of the separation of powers: experts on Zuma’s troop deployment
‘Imagine if the president deployed 450 soldiers to the Constitutional Court while it was busy deciding whether the State of Capture report was valid’
The deployment of more than 440 soldiers to Parliament ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s state of the nation address on Thursday is a breach of the separation of powers‚ constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos says. It was difficult not to be worried by the decision, he said. "This‚ at first blush‚ appears to be a flagrant breach of the separation for powers. "Imagine if the president deployed 450 soldiers to the Constitutional Court while it was busy deciding whether the State of Capture report was valid. "It would be an outrage." The separation of powers refers to the principle that the power of the state is divided between the executive‚ the legislature and the judiciary. Defence analyst Helmoed Heitman said "there seems to be some sort of security paranoia going on". Speaking on CapeTalk radio on Wednesday‚ he recalled how previous presidents‚ even under National Party rule‚ had an armed driver and one escort car. "Now we have this massive motorcade." He said there was either a re...
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