South African Politics 101

The Major Players:

Mbeki-The current President of South Africa (following Nelson Mandela). Was the president of the ANC until recently. Lately has been notably absent from publicly condemning the xenophobic violence across the country. Has also tacitly supported instead of condemned Zimbabwe's "President", the infamous Robert Mugabe, and Zim's recent "election".

The African National Congress (ANC)-One of the organizations that was instrumental in dismantling apartheid. Now the ruling political party of the country. Both Mandela and Mbeki were elected president of the ANC before being elected President of South Africa. The ANC currently holds over 76% of the seats in the National Assembly (sort of the equivalent of Congress).

Zuma-The newly elected President of the ANC and the expected winner of the upcoming South African presidential election. He is widely supported by lower-income blacks who make up the majority of the country. However, many others (myself include) are worried about his apparent tendency toward corruption and foolish positions. His statements on AIDS have drawn the most criticism, especially his remark that he doesn't regret having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman because he showered afterwards. There is a case against him before the SA Constitutional Court for being involved in likely corrupt arrangement with a French arms dealing company. It is possible that he could be convicted before the election and thus would no longer be eligible for the presidency.

Constitutional Court-The US Supreme Court would do well to take a page out of the SA ConCourt's impressive book. The Court has made numerous bold decisions since its inception in 1994 including requiring the government to provide housing for the most vulnerable in society (much more progressive on socioeconomic issues than the US SC will EVER be), striking down the death penalty against public support, and legalizing same-sex marriage. Given the set up of the SA Constitution, however, I am concerned that the ConCourt is overly susceptible to societal pressure and at risk of being unable to fulfill its countermajoritarian duties. There don't seem to be a lot of people who agree with me on this, including my law class here. However the fact is that the SA Constitutional can be amended with a 2/3 majority vote in the National Assembly. The ANC currently holds more than enough seats in the Nat'l Assembly to pass an amendment by voting as a block. If the ANC was sufficiently concerned about a case before the court (ahem, such as ANC President Zuma's case that will determine his eligibility for the SA presidency), they could attempt to influence the Court by bringing forth legislation to amend the powers or composition of the Court. I have great respect for most of the judges on the Court, but the Court is young, its power is still inevitably tenuous. It seems completely possible to me that if pressured by a powerful enough faction, the Court could be forced to choose between losing its powers and making a fair decision.

Judge Hlophe-Western Cape Judge President (below the ConCourt) who the ConCourt recently issued a complaint of misconduct against. Hlophe allegedly tried to coerce the Court into helping Zuma by either dismissing, postponing or deciding the pending case against Zuma in his favor. Hlophe claimed that he had special information from the National Intelligence Agency and that the ConCourt Justices could lose their positions if they did not step in line.


This is not quite an "I told you so" moment for me because my worry has been that the ConCourt would be successfully coerced, and in this case, the justices have publicly rebuked Hlophe and the attempted coercion. However, this is still not over yet. It might still swing the other way. Also, if a stronger faction such as the bulk of the ANC leadership tried to pressure the Court instead of just one lower court judge, it might be a different story. Anyway, people were always skeptical of my coerced Court scenario mainly because they didn't think anyone would be so invested in the outcome of the case that they would have the gall to try and pressure ConCourt. Ha! Obviously there is some reason for worry, huh guys?







"It constitutes a grave threat to the institution of the judiciary, and accordingly to our constitution."
-Chief Justice Langa, on the alleged misconduct of Judge Hlophe (via the Cape Argus)