Get to know the highest court in the land
JOBURG - Read up on how President Jacob Zuma has sparked an interest in the Constitutional Court, how this court works and what its significance is.
Advocate FJ Labuschagne describes the Constitutional Court as the highest court in South Africa which deals with matters relating to the Constitution, specifically matters pertaining to the Bill of Rights.
Labuschagne said that if South African citizens disobey the Constitution, chaos will ensue as everybody needs to obey the law in order for there to be order in a country.
“Furthermore, the basic human rights of all South Africans need to be respected,” said Labuschagne.
“These rights are set out in Chapter 2 of the Constitution. These rights include, but are not limited to, the right to human dignity, freedom of speech and freedom of expression.”
Labuschagne described the history behind the Constitution, which began in 1993 with an interim Constitution. He said that this was described as revolutionary and that it brought about reform. “The idea of Constitutional supremacy was introduced whereby the Constitution was placed above the Parliament of South Africa,” said Labuschagne.
He went on to say that before 1994, there were no judicial constraints over parliament and specific procedures were not followed. The final constitution came into being during 1996 with the 1996 Constitution.
“Constitutionalism is the idea that government should derive its powers from those derived by the Constitution,” explained Labuschagne.
In the recent case which involved President Zuma, it was held that the president did not comply with the remedial action set out by the Public Protector’s report on 19 March 2014. This report related to the upgrades on Zuma’s Nkandla home, which the Public Protector confirmed was not build for security purposes.
The Constitutional Court found that Zuma’s actions were inconsistent with Section 83(b) of the Constitution.
Labuschagne explained the significance of this section when he said, “Section 83(b) of the Constitution says that the president must uphold, defend and respect the Constitution as supreme law.”
He continued, “The Public Protector safeguards Constitutional democracy.”
The Constitutional Court is, therefore, a supreme court and no South African is above this court.
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