Corruption and maladministration threaten to derail our constitutional vision of a better life for all, said Judge Mahomed Navsa of the Supreme Court of Appeal on Tuesday.
He delivered the 13th Annual Human Rights Lecture of the Oppenheimer Chair in Human Rights Law at the Faculty of Law at Stellenbosch University.
The event was organised by Professor Sandra Liebenberg, who holds the Oppenheimer Chair in Human Rights Law at the university.
Judge Navsa said corruption and maladministration divert state efforts and resources away from the poor and disadvantaged.
“The Constitutional Court is emphatic in its assertion that corruption and maladministration pose a threat to human rights.”
Judge Navsa said corruption threatens the health of the nation and the very fabric of society.
He highlighted civil society’s vigilance and determination; the independence and determination of constitutional watchdogs; and balanced media scrutiny as essential to hold government to account.
“Without these the constitutional vision is endangered and a bleak and disastrous future will be the result.
“The protection and promotion of our democracy requires vigilance and constant agitation by civil society.”
The judge said we should use the country's laws and institutions to fight corruption and maladministration and to make our democracy a success.
“What is required in the fight against corruption and maladministration is an appreciation, instilled in the national psyche, concerning the
importance of laws and institutions fundamental to the success of our democracy.
“Those of us cognisant of the heavy price paid for liberation, for whom the rule of law is paramount, should make every effort to impress upon children, students and the populace at large that public representatives and office-bearers serve at their pleasure and that the many constitutional and legislative tools at their disposal should be utilised to ensure that government and powerful interests are held to account, the judge said.
“There should be ongoing public education campaigns which bring home the point that ours is a
democracy based on the rule of
law and that we are a nation of laws
and not of personalities.
“Institutions that were set up to ensure that the exercise of power is kept within legal and constitutional bounds must do their duty and fulfil their constitutional mandates.”
Judge Navsa encouraged all South Africans to become activists in promoting constitutional values and ensuring that particularly the poor and the vulnerable are not exposed to the corrosive effects of abuse of power.
He said that if the constitutional vision of a better society for all does not become a reality because of
corruption and maladministration,
our democratic experiment will have failed spectacularly.
Basson is a journalist / copywriter in the Corporate Communications Division at Stellenbosch University