Reaction to announcement Dr John Hlophe will lead MKP in Parliament

good evening the Electoral court has issued out directives and the MK party's bid to invalidate the 2024 National and provincial elections The Specialist court has given respondents until Tuesday the 25th of June 2024 to file responding affidavits in addition the applicant the MK party will have until Thursday the 27th of June 20124 to file a replying affidavit the court further noted that it has the right to dispose of this matter on the papers uh without referral to oral hearing these directives come after the MK party filed papers earlier this month seeking an order declaring that the 2024 National and provincial elections were not free and fair and therefore invalid the party also seeks among other things an order from The Specialist Court directing the president to call for a new national election to be held in papers seen by the sabc news the party contends that they had if they had the elections been conducted in a free and fair manner the MK party would in all likelihood had won the may polls the affidavit by a national organizer of the MK party ntino says prior to the Declaration of the 2024 election results the party had already registered grave objections to the lawfulness of the May polls based on what the party terms as serious voting irregularity to support its claim the party attached an an analysis in its papers alleging voter discrepancy of just over 9 million votes that it says cannot be accounted for Parliament needs to relook at its uh rules as well as ethics more carefully and that's according to Professor NAIA Bola Mula divisional executive at the human Sciences research Council this comes says Dr John Sloe who was impeached as the Western Cape judge president is the designated leader for the party in Parliament Abola Mula believes that the decision to have lope back in the same Parliament that impeached him will not assist in rebuilding public trust in democracy as well as Democratic institutions as far as we know um he hasn't got a criminal record he's been impeached and don't think there are any rules about this and also there's a precedent that's been set because our former public prosecutor was impeached by Parliament and then she became a member of parliament for the EFS so um I think Parliament will have to look at its rules a little bit more carefully um because besides laws and rules you also have to look at ethics in public office and it is rather disturbing I think to have someone who was impeached only in February of this year um coming back to the same Parliament that impeached him and one wonders about the kinds of conflicts of interest that would arise in such cases it certainly doesn't look good I mean if you think about it um in 2008 the reason why there was a a complaint lodged against judge clope was that he was trying to influence the Constitutional Court to make a judgment in favor of uh the then Deputy president uh Jacob Zuma so you can already see that there's a connection there that connection continues so that's that controversy remains in our minds and one wonders about yes trust uh public trust in institutions our research has shown that over the last 20 years uh trust in democracy and Democrat institutions including Parliament has dropped substantially the courts have held relatively firm but at the same time trust in the courts has dropped from 58% in 2004 to 31% now um so we have a bit of a crisis of trust in institutions and when something like this happens I mean then people would look at it and go what kind of of people are representing us in these institutions for more on this we're now joined by legal expert Alton Hart and he joins us now via our video link Alton thank you so much for your time this evening here on sabc news always a pleasure talking to you I mean just looking at that story that came out today from the MK party in I mean uh one would say just a couple of months ago we saw uh Dr John choe being impeached by uh Parliament and he's now coming in as a representative for for the MK party and not just the representative but the Parliamentary leader for that party is this something that many people would have expected no indeed I think a lot of South Africans did not expect this to happen but I mean there's nothing impeding or barring him from actually becoming a member of parliament years he was impeached by this very same Parliament that he's now going to be forming part of and obviously it speaks to more or less Maybe ethics and also his moral High Ground because he was impeached because he was allegedly involved in um UN in a impressional manner actually influencing judges in how they should actually find in a specific matter so I think eyebrows is um is lifted by the South African public and also maybe members of parliament that he's being brought in as the chief work for the MK party leading them in the in the in the in the parliament but there's nothing in the Constitution that actually bars the former judge from actually being part of Parliament and looking at this appointment especially uh with the track record that uh Dr John choic comes with what does it mean for the MK party no for me if I look at him and his work that he did as a Judicial officer he was an impeccable judge good judgment good at his work he understood his legal work and the work that he did in the legal profession I'm not saying that the guy is now suddenly an angel I don't know exactly what happened there but when it comes to the actual legal work and doing his work as a judge a Judicial officer attending to court matters and running a court I think he he he had a good track record so he has that work ethic in him but I'm now thinking obviously the parliament's committee that actually investigated the allegations from 2008 against him found that he his conduct amounted to impeachable conduct and hence they came up with a report that found him guilty of improper conduct and on that one I cannot speak but on his work as a judge I can say I've seen his work is good and you know focusing on the legal work and you know one would also even ask and say that would you say that this is a major gain uh for the MK party particularly uh because of the track record we've seen from the MK party especially challenging a number of of issues no I think he brings a great legal mind he can actually analyze things and he could be a strong advisor within the MK party when they are faced with legal challenges to say which battles do you fight and which battles do you just say I'm not going to get involved in it I think he can bring his um analytical mind that he has been using over the more than 30 years in the legal profession uh hearing cases dealing with cases so I think that is a game for the MK but obviously somehow some people will think that there's also a clut now in the MK course now we have a judge that was impeached and now suddenly you bring them as a member of parliament uh it speaks to maybe the trust that might be put in that person because he had improper conduct in another frame and obviously the ethics and the rules of parliament requires that you need to be always uh in a behave in an ethical manner upholding the Constitution and here the very same institution found that the judge on a previous occasion in 2008 actually bridge this Constitution under which he has to Now operate when he's a member of Parliament and you know I mean we've seen some of the commentary coming out especially from the human Sciences research Council and also criticizing you know uh this appointment and saying that a parliament needs to revisit its ethics and especially uh when it comes uh to you know you know the appointments of this nature what do you make of that criticism saying that well Parliament really needs to look at you know the conduct of some MPS as well as uh the ethics especially when it comes to the appointments of parliamentary leaders no I would say that it's indeed a a fair comment that they say Parliament should re look at the ethics but then one needs to look at is the ethics and the rules that Parliament will make will it be in line with the Constitution because remember we've got the Constitution supreme law of the land and everything that we do will be measured against the Constitution if you now come and want to amend the Constitution you at least need a 2/3 majority and unfortunately I have to say that a lot of political parties have some members in them that doesn't have a good and solid track record and if they have to come to a vote I don't think that you'll get that 2/3 majority to actually change the Constitution I mean a simple issue like the land issue which is peral in this country they can't change it because the majority or the the mixture is not there and obviously with the parties and the outcome of the 29 election things is a little bit muddy currently in the in Parliament and to amend the rules it must be in line with the Constitution and coming to Dr John sha and this Lifeline that has been given to him do you think that this is also a second chance for the former judge I would not necessarily say it's a it's it's a Lifeline because remember he was not found guilty in a court of law so technically he can just come and start open up his shop he is's a brilliant legal mind people can never take that away from him and he can be a legal practitioner he might not be a judge but he can go back and say I'm going to either practice as a legal practitioner or um a council and that is one of the things that is M available obviously this is a different Avenue and now the MK is going to draw on his strengths in Parliament when they debate certain things because he can now bring his critical analytical mind knowing all the laws knowing the Constitution and know how the Constitution applies horizontally and vertically he can actually now use that to their advantage so I would say maybe not a Lifeline he has other avenues cuz he's also a board member of other boards so it's just employing his skills in a different area and so what would you say are your expectations when it comes uh just to um him being an MP uh in Parliament and also uh just your expectations in terms of how he would perform um in this regard for the seventh Administration um obviously he has to tow the party line for Mk because MK has deployed him to the parliament so he has to actually promote the interest of MK or what is their stance so obviously I think everything he says would be in line with the MK Manifesto as to that is what that brought them that 58 seats in the National Assembly so I think he is the chief who should align him with the party's policies and the manifesto but but obviously it will also bring a critical sharp mind for Mk into certain debates into certain talks where he can actually also um sort of have navigate the way for Mk in a very safe manner if one can put it that way to say that you will be able to actually dissect and analyze certain things that is being discussed on the Parliamentary level all right Mr har thank you so much for your time uh this evening here in sabc news that's Alton Hart he is a legal analyst uh just giving us his analysis there when it comes to Dr John SCH joining the MK party and also being appointed as the Parliamentary leader for the MK party really interesting times ahead uh in the National Assembly

Channel: SABC News

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Length: 12min 57sec (777 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 21 2024