Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng,
Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Honourable Jeff Radebe
Justices of the Constitutional Court,
Members of the Judiciary,
The Skweyiya Family,
Ladies and Gentlemen

As we gather on the eve of our fifth democratic election, it is with a deep sense of humility that I stand here to pay tribute and bid a fond farewell on behalf of Parliament to Justice Thembile Lewis Skweyiya, who retires as a member of the Constitutional Court. Justice Skweyiya, you have served our country with distinction, dedication and honour, from an anti-apartheid lawyer and human rights activist, to a member of our highest court and guardian of our Constitution and upon which our democracy is founded.

Right from the very beginning, young Thembile Skweyiya seemed destined to play a leadership role in our country. It was not just fortuitous that he attended and matriculated at Healdtown High School, in the Eastern Cape where many of those who became leaders in the struggle for democracy, including former President Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Robert Sobukwe, Matthew Goniwe, Phyllis Ntantala and Victoria Mxenge, also went to school.

While as an advocate he initially focused on commercial work, from 1981 he dedicated his practice to using the law in whatever way he could to ameliorate the brutal system of oppression. During this time he defended members of the liberation struggle who were charged under the draconian apartheid security laws. It is well known that he acted as counsel in trials such as those of Oscar Mpetha and Griffiths Mxenge.
Chief Justice,

Justice Skweyiya noted in his speech to the Constitutional Court of Columbia in 2011 that under apartheid we had no binding bill of rights, and no supreme constitution.  Instead, under a system of parliamentary sovereignty, an unrepresentative parliament imposed racist and repressive laws on the population of the country, who had no recourse to the courts to challenge the validity of these laws.

Justice Skweyiya was also a human rights activist in his own right outside the courtroom. He was a member of various progressive organisations and during the tumultuous period of the 1980's he devoted a considerable amount of time and energy to organisations such as the Mandela Committee, the Chairperson of the Association for Rural Development and a Trustee of the Institute for Black Research, a position he still currently holds.
In his speech to the Constitutional Court of Columbia Justice Skweyiya said:

“The courts became complicit, and a crucial component, in the architecture of apartheid. During this time, I began my legal career.  While the armed struggle against apartheid was being waged from exile and from underground, groups of attorneys and advocates, like myself, were waging a different style of struggle… Working through this corrupt and unjust judicial system, we tried to secure some basic human rights for combatants and other political activists held in detention.  We met with much failure but occasionally we could come up with creative and innovative ways to make inroads into the repression of the apartheid regime”.
Given his immense acumen as a legal practitioner, in 1989 Justice Skweyiya was the first black South African to obtain the status of silk or Senior Counsel. While Justice Skweyiya could have made a far more lucrative career as a Senior Counsel specialising in commercial law, he chose to dedicate his life to public service and accepted appointment as a Judge in 2001.
As a member of this distinguished Constitutional Court, Justice Skweyiya you penned many well written and eloquent judgments. Significantly, whether the matters before you pertained to the rights of the child, same-sex couples or housing and evictions, you helped shape our jurisprudence by emphasising that the law is the shield to protect the vulnerable in society.
In a speech at the University of Fort Hare Justice Skweyiya emphasised, “There is no aspect of the law which is shut off from the Constitution. Thus the three cornerstones of our Constitution – dignity, equality and freedom – must infuse every aspect of the law”. This interpretation underlies the generous and purposive transformational nature of our Bill of Rights.
Chief Justice,
Issues of justice, especially where it pertained to the rights of children were always close to Justice Skweyiya’s heart. His colleagues at the Constitutional Court all agree that Thembile is humble, has a very friendly demeanour and is committed to the idea of collegiality, always seeking consensus and cooperation, even when sitting as a judge.I am told Justice Skweyiya is often found whistling as he walks down the corridors of the Constitutional Court and that the cheer he brought will be missed.
This is the same Thembile that I have come to know in my personal capacity. Always soft spoken, thoughtful and humble.  On behalf of Parliament, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to you for the many years of public service to our country as a judge and as a human rights activist and for legitimising the law in the eyes of ordinary South Africans.
As we all know, the premises on which this Constitutional Court stands, was once a jail for many victims of apartheid. Today, as one of the arms of government, this Court is one of the bastions of our freedom. In the same way, it is also a just irony that we come to pay tribute to someone who as an activist in the apartheid era used the law to undermine its cruel intention and in post democratic society he used the law to protect the vulnerable and undo the effects of the apartheid system.

Chief Justice,
Reflecting back over the last 20 years, while we still face the challenges of undoing the socio-economic legacy of apartheid, we are certainly proud of our remarkable achievements and milestones – a functioning democracy with credible institutions of governance based on a culture of human rights. It is however still vital to critically examine governance and accountability issues to ensure that we remain relevant to the needs of our people.
The key that underpins our democracy and Constitution is the achievement of substantive equality and a better life for all. Madiba, the founding father of our democracy had warned that:
“…democracy itself, cannot survive unless the material needs of the people…are addressed as part of the process of change and as a matter of urgency. It should never be that the anger of the poor should be the finger of accusation pointed at all of us because we failed to respond to the cries of the people for food, for shelter, for the dignity of the individual”.  
Parliament therefore plays a pivotal role as it is primarily an institution that represents the people and their aspirations and ensures that this translates effectively into laws and policies. Parliament’s mandate from the Constitution requires that we provide meaningful opportunities for our people’s involvement in our legislative and other processes. The most marginalised in particular, must be recognised as a key component in finding solutions to national problems. Credible and inclusive participatory processes lead to public trust in our representational role as the people’s voice.
Chief Justice,
The key to all these is accountability. In South Africa, government consists of Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary. It is particularly with regard to oversight over the Executive that our Constitution envisages a stronger check, as it demands accountability to the democratically elected legislature.
It is for Parliament to ensure through our oversight role that the Bill of Rights and our key developmental commitments are truly reflected in policies and national budgets of government.
The courts also ensure that Parliament acts in accordance within the ambit of the Constitution. This is in itself a key contributor to both our stability as a democracy and to ensure that ultimately it is the people that benefit. In the seminal case of Speaker of the National Assembly versus De Lille it was held that:
“… the Constitution is the ultimate source of all lawful authority in the country. No Parliament, however bona fide or eminent its membership, no President, however formidable be his reputation or scholarship and no official, however efficient or well meaning, can make any law or perform any act which is not sanctioned by the Constitution.”
Former Chief Justice Ngobo said that “courts are given the central role to uphold the Constitution. It is in the performance of this role that the judiciary, in particular, the Constitutional Court, interacts with other branches of government. It is within this context that the constitutional dialogue between the courts and other branches of government must be understood”.
 
The idea of a constitutional dialogue arose, in part, in response to the criticism in other jurisdictions that the exercise of judicial power to invalidate legislation is anti-majoritarian in the sense that it replaces the will of the people as expressed by the elected legislature or executive with the will of undemocratically selected judges. More generally, it is a response to the need to find a formulation of the separation of powers that accurately captures the true relationship between the courts and other branches of government. The very conception of a dialogue between the branches marks a shift from a view under which the branches of government are perceived as being engaged in a turf war to one in which they are bound together in an on-going and shared endeavour.
 
Under the current Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng we have continued along the path that former Chief Justice Ngcobo spoke of and several meetings have taken place between the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislature to look at enhancing cooperation between ourselves and to build bridges within the bounds of the Constitution.
As an individual who has contributed to this great vision of a better life for all our people and also for contributing in many ways to our democracy, once more I thank you and wish you all the best for the years ahead. I wish to also thank the Skweyiya family for the support they gave and sacrifices that made for Justice Skweyiya to serve our people.
I thank you.