Madam Deputy Speaker, we were greatly encouraged by our hon President's remarks yesterday on the enhancement of judicial independence, even if that independence was rhetorically presented as part of transformation. The reference to independence was welcome, because it is so necessary.
I would like to say to the hon the President that I can think of no single act of statesmanship that would more resoundingly restore confidence in this government's commitment to our constitutional order than the appointment, in a few months' time, of a good choice for a Chief Justice of South Africa, and it would help with economic confidence too.
That appointment will perhaps be the single most important function which our hon President will fulfil during his tenure as head of the executive. He may also appoint a new Deputy Chief Justice - that would happen, should he decide to elevate the sitting deputy to the position of Chief Justice when our esteemed Chief Justice, Judge Pius Langa, retires.
The difference between those positions - the Chief Justice of South Africa and the Deputy Chief Justice - and the appointment of the other Constitutional Court judges is that our hon President can appoint a person, or in the second scenario two persons, of his choice. He does not have to draw on a list emanating from the Judicial Service Commission. He will choose, not in consultation with, but only after consulting the JSC and the leaders of parties represented in Parliament.
I remember that Mr George Bizos has said that his predecessor, President Mbeki, never departed from the JSC's recommendations and we hope that the President, too, will take wise counsel, because our constitutional order has been shaken to its foundation over the last year by unwise comment and sometimes by wild comment about the judiciary, such as the charges of counterrevolution made against our judges, which we all remember.
There was an aftershock recently, at the last weekend, when our new Justice chairperson, the hon Ramathlodi, said to the Mail & Guardian that the judges should know their place. Now, I hasten to add that the hon Ramathlodi offered us an explanation, unasked, on the occasion of his election this week and we readily acknowledge his assurance that he believes that our independent institutions need to be restored and to be given their rightful space.
It is just that we have so often felt, sir, during this last year that we were losing South Africa. Because it is no exaggeration to say that if the courts crumble, the whole of the constitutional construct comes crashing down, pillar and pediment. The courts are part and parcel of the constitutional architecture, but let us never forget that they are separate and subject only to the Constitution and the law, and that they are the authoritative interpreters of the supreme law.
Dit is ons werk, as die wetgewende gesag van Suid-Afrika, om uitdrukking te gee aan die Grondwet en aan die fundamentele regte wanneer ons wette skryf of herskryf. Ons interpreteer ook. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[As South Africa's legislative authority, it is our duty to give expression to the Constitution and to the fundamental rights when we write or rewrite laws. We interpret as well.]
But it is the courts that can strike down our work and government's conduct for unconstitutionality. As a parliamentarian, I believe we, as one arm of the state, have a particular duty to the people to protect that other separate arm, and to protect in particular the status and the stature of the judges, the very people who can throw out our work, suspend it and send it back after months and years of work, because if we do not so respect and protect them, if there are no such courts, there is no supreme Constitution. Then Parliament is sovereign again, as it was until we created this constitutional democracy, and then our hon President becomes just like Mr P W Botha, who set up next door in Tuynhuys as an executive president. We don't want that, sir, and he will not want that.
I hope, therefore, that the President will send a clear signal of statesmanship and constitutionalism when he appoints the Chief Justice of South Africa a little later this year - I think in August, I am not sure.
A last thought: No doubt there is more than one good choice available on the highest Bench, but it is interesting to remember that when natural successors are passed over, confidence can be affected. Judge Michael Corbett, recently departed - much loved and rightly honoured - was the natural successor in 1986 to the Chief Justiceship, as it then was, when Judge Rabie was due to retire. The hon President will remember only too well that these were the emergency years. Judge Rabie, himself reappointed, was instrumental in getting the right man - Judge Mick Corbett - appointed after his own extended service.
The late Kobie Coetzee, whom many of us remember for his many contributions to the founding of our new state, was then Justice Minister and he was said to have been toying with another choice altogether at the time, but the right man was appointed. I leave only the thought, hon President, that it can make a very big difference to have the right person in the right post at the right time, and when the right people, moreover, make the right appointments in turn, well, you make new countries or you recapture them. We wish you very well, hon President. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Mr Chairman, President, yesterday I listened to the second state of the nation address this year and to my 17th since 1994.
My overarching impression of President Zuma's address was "back to business". Government in the past often got stuck in complicated ideological debates, debates where the existence of serious problems such as crime, Zimbabwe and HIV/Aids had been denied. This was not the case in yesterday's address. President Zuma had identified most of the core problems of South Africa and made proposals as to how these could be addressed. This includes the present recession and issues such as our high crime rate, corruption, poor health services, discipline in education, poverty, etc.
The FF Plus, however, foresees one big problem. Among these proposals of the government on the one hand and the populace on the other, one finds the Public Service. They have to implement these plans at ground level to the advantage of South Africa.
I know many wonderful public servants, who work very hard and go out of their way to deliver good services to the people, but I have encountered so many incompetent officials, officials who are political or cadre appointments, officials who are arrogant and do not go to any trouble to render a service to the public.
South Africa needs a professional, nonpolitical public service where competence and nothing else determines one's position and promotion. Such a public service is loyal to the government of the day, regardless of which political party is in charge. The President yesterday repeated that South Africa belongs to all who live in it. The Public Service also in the same way belongs to all South Africans. Therefore, if there is no renewal in the Public Service, many of these proposals will only create expectations, but will not be implemented in practice.
The President concluded his speech yesterday by saying: To be a citizen is not only about rights, it is also about responsibility, making a contribution to make ours a better country.
The FF Plus agrees with this. It is not only the government's job to make a contribution to a better South Africa. Every citizen, every nongovernmental organisation and every political party has a duty and a responsibility.
Then where does an opposition political party such as the FF Plus fit in?
In a mature democracy there should also be room for opposition politics. I stand here with a mandate from the FF Plus voters. That mandate differs from the mandate of the ANC or of the DA. It is a mandate to manage the interests of the FF Plus voters as best I can in this Assembly. It deals with self-determination, the protection of minorities, about the pressure which Afrikaners and Afrikaans are experiencing and with constructive opposition - that is the mandate.
Why does the FF Plus believe that good opposition is necessary and that it is our contribution "to make ours a better country", as the President said yesterday? Because the true test of democracy does not lie in the existence of different democratic institutions alone, but in the functioning of these institutions. The most important institutions would be the media, Parliament, opposition parties and the state watchdogs such as the Auditor- General and public accounts committees.
In countries where there has been a move from a democratic to an autocratic state, the move took place gradually. Government slowly scales down the role of the media and other democratic institutions. The result is that it becomes more difficult for the opposition and the media to gain access to the information it needs to fulfil its roles. The next step of an autocratic government is to employ people who are sympathetic to the ruling party in all the troublesome positions, positions such as the Auditor- General, the chairs of public accounts committees and judges. The annual reports of governmental departments become increasingly vague. Questions in Parliament are not answered. Through these steps, information regarding government's activities becomes less and less available. Without this information, the opposition cannot function effectively.
The last step in losing democracy would be elimination of the opposition as the unpatriotic enemy. In South Africa we are far removed from this, but this does not mean that we can take democracy and freedom of speech as a given. As an opposition party the FF Plus will help guard over this. It is important to remember that the longer any government rules, the less it tolerates being controlled.
Daarom het die VF Plus as opposisieparty nie gehuiwer om die ANC-regering Grondwethof toe te vat oor stemreg vir Suid-Afrikaners in die buiteland nie. Daarom het die VF Plus die Openbare Beskermer gevra om die vermorsing van geld te ondersoek nadat die aanklagte teen mnr Zuma laat vaar is. Indien nodig, sal ons weer sulke stappe doen. Ek het hierdie standpunt in my gesprek met die President oor die aanvaarding van 'n Adjunkministerspos aan hom oorgedra.
Sedert die stigting van die VF Plus met genl Viljoen as leier was die party se uitgangspunt dat verantwoordelike opposisie nodig is, maar dat dit nie net afbrekend is nie.
Suid-Afrika beleef tans 'n resessie wat almal raak. As die Suid-Afrikaanse skip ekonomies sou sink, dan sink die DA- en VF Plus- ondersteuners saam. Daarom is die VF Plus ook bereid om 'n konstruktiewe rol te speel in die belang van almal in Suid-Afrika. Artikel 83 van die Grondwet lui as volg:
Die President -
(c) bevorder die eenheid van die nasie ...
Hoe doen 'n President dit in 'n land met 11 amptelike tale, agt hoofgelowe en 31 kultuurgroepe? As President Zuma dan in sy inhuldigingstoespraak by die Uniegebou s, en ek haal hom aan:
We must forge a partnership for reconstruction, development and progress. In this partnership there is a place for all South Africans, black and white. It's a partnership founded on principles of mutual respect and the unfettered expression of different views. We do not seek conformity. We seek a vibrant, dynamic partnership that is enriched by democratic debate that values diverse views and accommodates dissent.
Dan s die VF Plus ons is bereid om die risiko te loop en as opposisieparty op hierdie basis 'n bydrae in die belang van Suid-Afrika te maak. Op hierdie basis steun die VF Plus se federale raad, as hoogste beleidmakende liggaam van die party, die VF Plus se aanvaarding van 'n Adjunkministerspos.
Die praktyk sal aantoon in watter mate sukses op hierdie basis moontlik is of nie. Kom ek gee vir u 'n voorbeeld: In sy toespraak verwys die President na 'n gemeenskaplike en inklusiewe benadering ten opsigte van naamsverandering. As dit in die praktyk op die grondvlak gaan lei tot 'n nuwe, lang en uitgerekte stryd van dorp tot dorp waar een groep se helde en name verwyder word en deur 'n ander groep s'n vervang word, dan is hierdie le beloftes. Dan sal dit net lei tot groter polarisasie en vervreemding tussen groepe in Suid-Afrika.
As die President se verwysing na 'n gemeenskaplike benadering van naamsverandering egter beteken dat daar so gou as moontlik duidelike riglyne kom oor hoe dit gedoen moet word, met erkenning aan alle groepe, dan verwelkom die VF Plus dit. Sulke riglyne sal aandui hoe daar ruimte gelaat moet word om erkenning aan almal se helde en verlede te gee, met 'n afsnypunt wanneer hierdie saak afgehandel behoort te word.
Suid-Afrika is 'n pragtige land met pragtige mense wat 'n model vir die res van die wreld kan word oor hoe verskillende tale en groepe in harmonie 'n toekoms uitwerk met 'n plek in die son vir elkeen, maar juis hierdie verskillende tale, groepe en verskille maak Suid-Afrika 'n baie ingewikkelde land wat met 'n verkeerde besluit of onverantwoordelikheid in geweld kan ontplof. Dis ons taak as leiers wat hier sit, almal, ook di wat hier mor, om die Suid-Afrikaanse skip veilig deur die waters te stuur. [Tussenwerpsels.] Die VF Plus beplan om as 'n konstruktiewe opposisieparty op die wyse wat ek hierbo uitgespel het die volgende vyf jaar sy rol in hierdie Parlement te speel. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[For that reason the FF Plus, as an opposition party, did not hesitate to take the ANC government to the Constitutional Court with regard to the right of South Africans, who live abroad, to vote. The FF Plus also asked the Public Protector to investigate the waste of money after the charge against Mr Zuma had been withdrawn. If necessary, we will take such steps again. I conveyed this point of view to the President during our conversation about my acceptance of the position of Deputy Minister.
Since the founding of the FF Plus with Gen Viljoen as leader, the point of reference of the party has always been that responsible opposition is necessary, but that it should not only criticise everything.
South Africa is currently experiencing a recession that affects everyone. If the South African ship were to sink economically, then the supporters of the DA and FF Plus would sink together with it. For that reason the FF Plus is also prepared to play a constructive role in the interests of everyone in South Africa.
Section 83 of the Constitution states the following:
The President - (c) promotes the unity of the nation ...
How does a President accomplish this in a country with 11 official languages, eight main religions and 31 cultural groups? As President Zuma said in his inauguration speech at the Union Buildings, and I quote:
We must forge a partnership for reconstruction, development and progress. In this partnership there is a place for all South Africans, black and white. It's a partnership founded on principles of mutual respect and the unfettered expression of different views. We do not seek conformity. We seek a vibrant, dynamic partnership that is enriched by democratic debate that values diverse views and accommodates dissent.
The FF Plus then says that we are prepared to take that risk and, as an opposition party, make a contribution along these lines in the interests of everyone in South Africa. On this basis the federal council of the FF Plus, the highest policy-making body of the party, supports the acceptance of the position of Deputy Minister by the FF Plus.
Time will tell to which degree success will be possible along these lines or not. Let me give you an example: In his speech the President refers to a joint and inclusive approach with regard to name changes. If this were to lead in practice to a new, long, drawn-out battle from town to town at grassroots level, where the heroes and names of one group are removed and replaced with those of another group, then we are left with empty promises. That will only lead to greater polarisation and alienation between groups in South Africa.
However, if the President's referral to a joint approach to name changes means that clear directives are to be issued as soon as possible on how this should be done, with recognition of all groups, then the FF Plus will welcome the approach. Such directives will indicate how much room should be left to give acknowledgement to everyone's heroes and past, with a cut-off date for the completion of this process.
South Africa is a beautiful country with beautiful people and can become a model for the rest of the world as to how different languages and groups can, in harmony, work towards a future with room for everyone. But, because of these different languages, groups and differences, South Africa is a very complicated country, where a wrong decision or irresponsible behaviour can explode in violence. We leaders who are seated here, even those of us who are muttering, have the duty to steer the South African ship safely through the waters. [Interjections.] The FF Plus envisages that the party will, as a constructive opposition party, play a role in this Parliament over the next five years in the manner in which I have explained. I thank you.]
Business suspended at 16:17 and resumed at 16:32.