Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, hon Members of Parliament and all esteemed guests, the Budget Vote debate for this department takes place at a time when South Africa celebrates Youth Month and commemorates the 1976 youth uprising. It is a time when we focus on the upliftment of our youth and when we want to ensure that our youth can proudly declare that they are good products of our democratic dispensation.
But this debate also takes place at a time when this Ministry deemed it fit to sustain a judge of the High Court on special leave after four years of no work; a time when the wife of the Minister of State Security was found guilty of drug trafficking; a time when farm killings remain only farm killings; a time when the utterances of hate speech become a reason for legal litigation; and a time when Chapter 9 institutions are used simply for paper trails.
But even further, this debate takes place at a time when the President of this country quite recently divided South Africans into the group that loves Jesus and the group that loves "the man that carries a fork and cooks people" - and at a time when Julius Malema, without the President's rebuke, told the nation that white people are criminals who stole the land. [Interjections.]
According to Prof De Vos:
It is in the long-term interest of the ANC, its leaders and all citizens of this country that a perception does not take hold amongst the majority of people that the system is so rotten and riddled with nepotism and corruption that the only way to address it is to lead a peaceful popular revolution against the incumbent government and the governing party. The ruling party, starting with the President of this country, and through this department, is seen as the leaders teaching the citizens about the rights enshrined in the Constitution of 1996. These rights include nonracialism, equality, and the right to religion. Now, if the ruling party, through its President, shows no regard for the rights as mentioned, one cannot help but wonder whether this department is equipped enough, through its political leaders, to be at the forefront of teaching our South Africans about their rights as stated in the Constitution.
The Public Protector's report on the unlawful lease of new police headquarters in Pretoria made headlines and now this Ministry is all quiet about it. Hon Minister and Deputy Minister, even though it is a Chapter 9 institution, the Public Protector's Office falls, to some extent, under this department. Wouldn't it have served this country better if you were at the forefront defending that report and ensuring that the recommendations within it were attended to?
We, as South Africans, want to believe that corruption is dealt with. We do not want explanation after explanation about "studying reports" and "studying judgments" when all that is necessary is decisive action from the executive.
Our court venues have become new playgrounds for the elite and the leaders in this country. Instead of being a place where justice must be served, courts are now slowly becoming "the place to be", to flaunt your designer clothes, and a place for your monetary power to be on display. But the courts have now also become a laughing stock, owing to a certain advocate in the Western Cape who made utterances to a presiding judge that can only be defined as disrespectful.
In addition to this, another judge decided to publicly defend these disrespectful utterances. Now, thanks to media cartoons, the joke is on the courts. One cartoon even depicted two homeless persons in which one of the persons uses the same words as those used in the court proceedings and in which the other person responds by saying, "Don't talk to me like that. I'm not a judge." Today, the judge is infamously known as "jou ma se judge". [Your mother's judge].
Whether we like it or not, our youth are being presented with a mental picture of our courts that is far removed from respect for authority and a sense of discipline. This department should take the lead and change that perception. This department should take the lead and ensure that the youth know that to appear in court as either a witness or an alleged criminal - or even as a representative - is a serious matter.
We expand our court venues to hear more cases. We increase the numbers of our prosecutors and lawyers to hear more cases. We increase the number of our judges to hear more cases. We develop systems to maintain more cases. Yet, the sense of confidence in our justice system still remains one of chasing rainbows. We live in a society where our justice system expects from South Africans to be patient, yet our people are violent, unemployed, poor and unequal.
This department, through its swift court processes, must create the impression that something is being done fast to ensure that justice is not only being heard to be done, but being experienced within our communities. This department, through the Chapter 9 institutions, must start to educate communities on bail, sentencing and the whole court process.
Of course, we can have all the legitimate answers for the delays. But the question that we then have to ask ourselves is whether the operators of our justice system are appropriate for the current South African society, a society that is plagued by poverty, inequality, unemployment and unresolved racial tendencies.
If this department is of the view that the operators of our justice system are adequate and equipped enough for our South African citizens, then we need to ensure that we all understand and can explain the meaning of justice when our people call for it, because unless South Africa understands the meaning of justice, South Africa cannot determine justice. Thank you. [Applause.]