https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Case Law / High Courts RSS ← Back
Africa|Defence|generation|Power
Africa|Defence|generation|Power
africa|defence|generation|power
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

Economic Freedom Fighters and Others v Chairperson of the Powers and Privileges Committee N.O and Others (23230/2023) [2024] ZAWCHC 192

Close

Embed Video

Economic Freedom Fighters and Others v Chairperson of the Powers and Privileges Committee N.O and Others (23230/2023) [2024] ZAWCHC 192

Legal gavel

26th July 2024

ARTICLE ENQUIRY      SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Click here to read the full judgment on Saflii

[1]          “If the new Constitution is a bridge away from a culture of authority, it is clear what it must be a bridge to.  It must lead to a culture of justification – a culture in which every exercise of power is expected to be justified; in which leadership given by government rest on the cogency of the case offered in defence of its decisions, not the fair inspired by the force at its command.  The new order must be a community built on persuasion not coercion”.[1]

Advertisement

[2]          In one paragraph South Africa’s finest academic public lawyer of his generation Professor Mureinik captured the very essence of the legal principles upon which our Constitution rested.  The exercise of power was required to be justified by reasoned argument.  Over the past 30 years of constitutional democracy it is apparent that our jurisprudence has sought to vindicate this idea not only insofar as the executive is concerned but also, in appropriate circumstances, when Parliament exercises powers granted to it by the Constitution.  Thus in Mazibuko N.O v Sisulu and others NNO 2013 (6) SA 249 (CC) the majority of the Court by way of the judgment of Moseneke DCJ  held that the Court had jurisdiction to examine the constitutionality of the Rules of the National Assembly, holding, in effect, that Chapter 12 thereof was constitutionally invalid to the extent of not providing for a constitutional right to be exercised; in this case the right of a member of the National Assembly to move a motion of no confidence in the President within a reasonable time.

[3]          The present case before this Court requires consideration of these principles.  It turns on the extent to which the judicial power of review should be exercised over powers granted to and exercised by the National Assembly.  In short, the central question raised in this dispute is to what extent Parliament is entitled to decide whether a member of Parliament is in contempt of Parliament or whether that power should be circumscribed to ensure the introduction of an independent third party to play an investigating role in the determination of whether a member of Parliament is in contempt of Parliament.  Hence this Court is confronted with the following question:  To what extent does the culture of justification require an intervention from this Court insofar as the parliamentary disciplinary process of a Member of Parliament is concerned? 

Advertisement

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE ARTICLE ENQUIRY

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options

Email Registration Success

Thank you, you have successfully subscribed to one or more of Creamer Media’s email newsletters. You should start receiving the email newsletters in due course.

Our email newsletters may land in your junk or spam folder. To prevent this, kindly add newsletters@creamermedia.co.za to your address book or safe sender list. If you experience any issues with the receipt of our email newsletters, please email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za