My paternal grandmother was Irish, which is an excuse for many things. Among them the affliction of a bladder situated too close to the eyes. It kicked into action two weeks ago when Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng delivered his scathing judgement against the President and National Assembly for their behaviour over Zuma’s Nkandla homestead. Their defence of such blatant plundering of the public purse was castigated so eloquently that those in the firing line haven’t fully absorbed their sins. But their competitors will keep reminding them that Zuma and the ANC caucus broke oaths of office enshrined in the Constitution. In a mature democracy it would have been their end; they would have appreciated the severity of their actions – Parliament dissolved and the immediate resignation of the President. But this is a young democracy. Mistakes are being learnt the hard way. And sometimes compounded, as the ANC’s spin doctors – and the party’s compromised leader – have done in attempting to debase the Chief Justice’s words, suggesting his condemnation was a mere wrist slap. This is a serious misjudgement. Mogoeng’s eloquent and forceful delivery gave the judiciary massive public exposure. The Chief Justice himself has become an icon for thousands of idealistic young activists who are sick of corruption and crony capitalism. They do not buy into the “Big Man of Africa” rule of patronage. They have been emboldened by Mogoeng’s assertion that South Africa is a Constitutional Democracy where political leaders bend to the rule of law, not the other way. And will draw courage from the Chief Justice’s speech last night in Durban. Just like they did on March 31. Leadership sometimes comes from the most unusual places. – Alec Hogg
By Amanda Khoza, News24
Durban – Until South Africa got its act together it would be a laughing stock and prophets of doom would keep saying it was yet another failed African state, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said on Thursday.
Mogoeng was speaking at the 14th Victoria and Griffiths Mxenge Memorial Lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal University’s Howard College where the university also hosted the School of Law Awards Ceremony.
Honouring Victoria and Griffiths, Mogoeng told the gathering that sitting comfortably when more could be done to improve the country would be betraying what the Mxenge’s lived and died for.
“South Africans, it’s now or never. Quicken your conscience to life… You will realise, like I have, that I have been sitting comfortably on a very uncomfortable situation; I have been idling by when my country demanded so much more from me,” he said.
South Africa had the potential to be the best country in the world but that all depended on what the country did going forward, Mogoeng said.
Don’t spread bad news every day
“Please do introspections, avoid prophesies of doom; we have so much going for us… don’t spread bad news everyday… A positive outlook would go a long way in shaping a better South Africa.”
He said Griffiths was a selfless legal practitioner and his wife cared for children that were not her own. He said the couple was not driven by wealth but by helping the less fortunate.
Mogoeng said Mxenge could have acted like some legal practitioners have and allegedly benefited from victims of the Road Accident Fund pay-outs.
Read also: Chief Justice Mogoeng: “No one is above the law”
He said he had heard of stories where victims of the RAF would receive R1 million but “an ignorant oppressed black South African would be given R10 000 and well over R900 000 would go to an attorney that had never been injured”.
Mogoeng said money seemed to be the preoccupation of many South Africans.
Amass wealth
“Now that we have a democratic South Africa, we can vote, I am the Chief Justice of South Africa because Mr and Mrs Mxenge and others who chose not to enjoy life or amass wealth…
“It’s time that we had a very deep self-examination… Have we parked like broken down vehicles ever since we cast our first vote?
“Now that we can become chief justices, advocates and SC’s… Now that there is money rolling around in South Africa and opportunities are available. Have we now resigned ourselves to greed and selfishness?” he asked.
“Have we forgotten what the Mxenge’s sacrificed for the sake of our freedom?”
Chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng says South Africans have forgotten about the Rainbow Nation to chase personal wealth.
— SAfm news (@SAfmnews) April 15, 2016
He said sitting back and playing it safe when there was so much to do was a betrayal of the sacrifices made by the Mxenges.
“Now that there is no life threatening situation in seeking taking South Africa forward and ensuring that the promises that were made in the Constitution are fulfilled, what is it that makes us sit comfortable and watch or criticise never doing anything to actively advance the course that many died for become a reality?
“What happened to us? Who said the struggle is over when people are living in shacks, what individual contribution are you making?”
Mogoeng said black and white South Africans should work together to help undo the injustices of the past.
“What is this obsession about unmitigated self-indulgence… The Constitution says South Africa belongs to all who live in it. What are you doing to contribute to a more united South Africa.
“The Mxenges did not believe in a black cause, they believed in a South African cause. They wanted a South Africa that was united.”
Talk about land reform
He said divisions in the past arose from the fact that some people could not vote and others were forcefully removed from their homes and the prime land that they occupied.
Read also:Â Madonsela: Unless politicians also bend knee to law, country will be lost
“We should never allow a situation where the resolution of the land issue is imposed on us, we should be proactive.
“Let us not allow a space for tension to arise out of something that we can resolve collectively as South Africa. Don’t condemn the government and hope that the problem is going to go away.
“There is so much land in the hands of our white compatriots. Why can’t we talk and let people vent on the matter and we will find a solution?”
Mogoeng recently delivered the Constitutional Court ruling on the Nkandla matter.
He ruled that President Jacob Zuma had flouted the Constitution when he ignored Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s remedial action on the non-security upgrades done at his private home. – News24
