Chair, this year's Human Rights Day celebrations come after a seminal Constitutional Court judgment with regard to Glenister President of the Republic of South Africa and others. This judgment is important for the human rights culture we are seeking to build for two reasons. Firstly, the supremacy of our constitutional order, as opposed to the whim of the executive, was deeply embedded in our politics. One man was able to overturn the decision of the ruling party at its Polokwane conference, awaken the legislature to its constitutional obligations, and remind the executive that the constitutional values cannot be compromised at the altar of temporary convenience. Secondly, the reason why this judgment is important for human rights is that it is said in the judgment itself, commenting on the Hawks, that:
The appearance or perception of independence plays an important role in evaluating whether independence exists or not.
The quote emphasises that not only is the legislative guarantee of independence a sufficient parameter, the public's perception of such independence is also equally important.
This is very important as it also applies to our Chapter 9 institutions, which are aptly called state institutions supporting constitutional democracy. These bodies are to protect our human rights as citizens against the state's excesses. Not only must these institutions be independent in law, there must also be a public perception that they are indeed independent.
All measures must be taken to safeguard their independence, mainly against political interference. As such, it should be of concern to every democrat that, soon after the Office of the Public Protector published a scathing criticism against the police commissioner, it was visited by SAPS intelligence agents. This was criticised by almost everyone.
However, the ruling party, swiftly after this, wants to engage the Public Protector on this report. What form will this engagement take? That's still a question for us all. What is clear is that the executive should not bargain or barter on issues of constitutional principle.
Members of the executive can read the report themselves and consider its legal implications. If they have an issue with some of these aspects of the report, there are legal mechanisms available to remedy the situation rather than wanting to engage the Public Protector in a way that could be interpreted as sheer intimidation.
It is not only legislative independence that matters, the perception of such independence is also essential. We are digressing rather than moving forward in building our human rights when the government through its actions creates an environment that implies that our Chapter 9 institutions are not sufficiently insulated from political interference.
Another condition related to the public perception of the independence of our institutions has to do with the cadres whom the ANC has placed in charge of these institutions. What should be important is that we have independent - minded people in the Chapter 9 institutions who will protect these institutions and our citizens, and not be compliant to the ANC or any other political party.
It is fortunate that we have a resilient Public Protector who refuses to defer to and be cowed by the executive. But we must remember that in future we could have a cadre deployee whose political interests will be to further the whims of the ruling party against constitutional prescripts. I thank you, Chair. [Applause.]