Cape Town – ANC insiders have reportedly indicated that President Cyril Ramaphosa is unlikely to take action against Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, following her attack on the country’s judiciary and the constitution.
This comes as pressure is mounting for Sisulu to withdraw her comments and issue a public apology.
According to News24, the General Council of the Bar of South Africa Chairperson Craig Watt-Pringlesaid the timing of Sisulu’s opinion piece in which she lambasted black judges was “worrisome”.
Sisulu’s article was published shortly after the submission of the first part of the state capture report.
Watt-Pringle believed that the opinion piece could add fuel to reports that the findings and recommendations of prosecution of individuals implicated in the state capture project, were the target of the attack, said the report.
“Whether that is the case or not is strictly irrelevant, as the attack is broad enough to include Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo in its ambit,” the report quoted Watt-Pringle as saying.
DA leader John Steenhuisen also weighed in, saying that Sisulu’s remarks undermined and cast aspersions on the judiciary and she should, therefore, be ordered to retract and apologise, reported Times Live.
“Even if no formal finding of wrongdoing has been made on Sisulu’s remarks, President Ramaphosa has an obligation to protect public trust in the constitutional integrity of other arms of government,” said Steenhuisen.
But according to a Sunday Times report, it was unlikely that Ramaphosa would take action against the minister, as “ANC insiders fear that firing her could jeopardise his chances of winning a second term”.
The ANC is set to hold its national elective conference in December.
In her opinion piece, “Hi Mzansi, have we seen justice?”, Sisulu questioned the country’s constitution and the judiciary.
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“What we have instead witnessed under a supreme constitution and the rule of law since 1994 has been the co-option and invitation of political power brokers to the dinner table, whose job is to keep the masses quiet in their sufferance while they dine caviar with colonised capital (CC). After dinner, many things take place under the table and around the table. Some call it stomach politics. The politicians take care of themselves and their families while those who put them there go to bed hungry, waiting for crumbs from the table…
“Today, in the high echelons of our judicial system are these mentally colonised Africans, who have settled with the worldview and mindset of those who have dispossessed their ancestors. They are only too happy to lick the spittle of those who falsely claim superiority. The lack of confidence that permeates their rulings against their own speaks very loudly, while others, secure in their agenda, clap behind closed doors,” Sisulu wrote in part.
In response, Zondo said that Sisulu had hurled insults at the entire judiciary and suggested that action be taken against her.
“This is not criticism, it is an insult to the justices of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), judges president of all divisions and all African judges of this country. There is no substantiation of any of this, no attempt to put up any facts, refer to any judgment to demonstrate what she is talking about,” IOL quoted Zondo as saying.
He added: “There is no substantiation of any of this, no attempt to put up any facts, refer to any judgment to demonstrate what she is talking about.”
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
