{"id":81738,"date":"2016-11-09T02:47:54","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T00:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/south-africa-faces-uneasy-questions-about-the-power-of-its-president-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2016-11-09T02:47:54","modified_gmt":"2016-11-09T00:47:54","slug":"south-africa-faces-uneasy-questions-about-the-power-of-its-president-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/south-africa-faces-uneasy-questions-about-the-power-of-its-president-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa faces uneasy questions about the power of its president | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa faces uneasy questions about the power of its president<\/a>: <\/p>\n

Can President Jacob Zuma continue to cling to power?<\/span> Mike Hutchings\/Reuters<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thuli Madonsela ended her tenure as South Africa\u2019s public protector with a resounding parting shot: a report titled State of Capture. <\/p>\n

It details how a coterie of kindred affinities is positioned to profit from the state. President Jacob Zuma is presented as being at the centre of the rot. The report\u2019s findings are largely expressed in the language of possibilities \u2013 what are adeptly called observations. This, coupled with the admission that the investigation could not be \u201cexecuted fully\u201d because of resource constraints, sets the scene for contestation. <\/p>\n

A particular bone of contention will be Madonsela\u2019s recommendation that a commission of inquiry, chaired by a judge, should be established to investigate the issue of state capture.<\/p>\n

There are also a number of important points to reflect on when considering the political implications of Madonsela\u2019s report and Zuma\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n

Commissions and completeness<\/h2>\n

The power to institute a commission of inquiry resides with the president. However, in this case, the president is the subject of the inquiry. The chief justice is brought in and identifies a judge who can preside over the inquiry, to be assigned \u201cthe power to appoint his\/her own staff\u201d. <\/p>\n

This is a stroke of genius intended to manage conflict of interest. The law is not clear in a situation where the sitting president is the subject of the inquiry of the commission he is supposed to institute. <\/p>\n

More intriguing is the proposed commission\u2019s mandate to <\/p>\n

\n

investigate all the issues using the record of this investigation and the report as a starting point. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here, Madonsela is prescribing that the commission should attend to matters she could not cover fully with the state\u2019s parsimonious allocations. But doesn\u2019t this suggest the report is not complete? It appears not, as her observations are subjects for further consideration by the commission. The report is, however, final. Isn\u2019t this a contradiction? Not necessarily. The report is final, but not complete. <\/p>\n

That it is final means her successor cannot take over the writing, rewriting or editing of it. Its incompleteness, meanwhile, relates to the inconclusive parts for the commission to consider.<\/p>\n

Political implications and Zuma\u2019s fate<\/h2>\n

The report is damning. It reveals that private interests for selfish ends found expression in the administration of the state. The national executive authority of the Republic is implicated. This is scary.<\/p>\n

Madonsela\u2019s report has stirred national consciousness. Zuma is swimming against the tide. Is he sinking, or might he still pull the trick of a proverbial cat with nine lives?<\/p>\n

Some among the governing African National Congress\u2019 (ANC) leadership are starting to speak out. Its veterans are enraged. Former president Thabo Mbeki has broken his silence on the matter. The powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions has threatened to withdraw its support for the ANC.<\/p>\n

The main opposition party, The Democratic Alliance, meanwhile, want parliament to debate a motion of no confidence in Zuma. Despite some dissent from his own party, it\u2019s unlikely Zuma would fall victim to such a motion: the opposition parties don\u2019t have enough seats to secure its success without mass ANC support. And the ANC in parliament is the buffer shielding Zuma. <\/p>\n

The motion of no confidence is not going to succeed, but Zuma and the ANC are going to be terribly bruised. <\/p>\n

There is one option available to Zuma if he wants to directly oppose Madonsela\u2019s report. He could opt to take it on legal review. But this is likely to cause even more than bruising: it may even leave the president and his party bleeding.<\/p>\n

The perils of taking report on review<\/h2>\n

The basis of his argument is likely to be that only the president has the power to institute a commission of inquiry. So, he would argue, Madonsela\u2019s remedial action is at odds with the principle of separation of power. <\/p>\n

But lurking in this is the question: in a situation where the president is the subject of the inquiry, what ought to happen to obviate conflict of interest? <\/p>\n

Is Madonsela\u2019s remedial action that the Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng selects a judge to chair the commission necessarily against the constitution? Is it true that she usurped the president\u2019s power? In her own words, Madonsela is asking for: <\/p>\n

\n

The President to appoint, within 30 days, a commission of inquiry headed by a judge solely selected by the Chief Justice who shall provide one name to the President.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This would not take away the president\u2019s power. The Chief Justice wouldn\u2019t institute the commission: he\u2019d simply select a judge to preside over a commission that the president is to institute.<\/p>\n

The risk for Zuma is that a judicial process may formalise this intervention into a precedent. If it does, his challenge to the report would have underscored once again the important role of the public protector in shaping South Africa\u2019s constitutional democracy. <\/p>\n

By heading to the courts to challenge Madonsela\u2019s report, Zuma may fall on his own sword.<\/p>\n

Options and lessons<\/h2>\n

The only option for Zuma is to step down. If he doesn\u2019t the ANC may be compelled to recall him lest it further loses its grip and sinks with him. <\/p>\n

Madonsela\u2019s report has placed the question of ethical leadership and good governance right in the ANC\u2019s historical consciousness. It requires the ANC\u2019s honesty about the quality of the leadership it has deployed in various organs of the state. <\/p>\n

Zuma is a manifestation of an ill-fated system of organising the state, specifically as it relates to the powers of the president. American political theorist James Madison\u2019s insight strikes a cord here. He wrote:<\/p>\n

\n

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place oblige it to control itself. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After all, as Madonsela\u2019s report vividly reminds us, men are not angels.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Mashupye Herbert Maserumule received funding from the National Research Foundation for his postgraduate studies. He is affiliated with South African Association of Public Administration and Management, and the Chief Editor of its scholarly publication. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> The Conversation \u2013 Articles (AFRICA)<\/a><\/small>
\n<\/p>\n

Read more on The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Join the fun:<\/strong> Add Your event<\/a> | Submit a Press Release<\/a> | Add your listing<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa faces uneasy questions about the power of its president: Can President Jacob Zuma continue to cling to power? Mike Hutchings\/Reuters Thuli Madonsela ended her tenure as South Africa\u2019s public protector with a resounding parting shot: a report titled State of Capture. It details how a coterie of kindred affinities is positioned to profit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[3678,428,8890,2400,2368,4646,4004,3576,21567],"class_list":{"0":"post-81738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-about","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-conversation","10":"tag-faces","11":"tag-power","12":"tag-president","13":"tag-questions","14":"tag-south","15":"tag-uneasy","16":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}