CSL2601 Assignment 2 (DETAILED ANSWERS) Semester 2 2024 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED

CSL2601 Assignment 2 (DETAILED ANSWERS) Semester 2 2024 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED Answers, guidelines, workings and references .... In the early 1990s when South Africa was contemplating transition to democracy, Wiechers advanced the case for the establishment of a constitutional court. He argued that this court would be able to protect and enforce human rights and liberties [and] to provide expert knowledge and the political as well as socio-economic understanding which is needed to judge intricate constitutional processes and issues.1 This view echoes the contemporary view that the Constitution2 that was designed to revolutionise the South African state reflects the needs and interests of all South Africans.3 In its articulation of a unique form of the separation of powers doctrine4 and in pursuit of ensuring a modern, robust constitutional democracy, the judiciary has viewed its role as complementary to (as opposed to distinct from) the legislative and executive branches of the state. As Corder remarks, in its first 15 years, the Constitutional Court’s judgments were ‘careful, wide, fair and at time courageous commitment to constitutional principle and practice’.5 So determined is the judiciary to uphold constitutional principle and practice that it has recently admonished the executive, with a court declaring that a particular government department was ‘grossly non-compliant’ and its representatives had shown up late for the court hearing.6 Some important developments in South African constitutional law are set out below. First, for the first time in South Africa’s history, two judges and the Public Protector were impeached. South Africa also has a multi-party government for the first time since the advent of democracy thirty years ago. _________________ 1 Marinus Wiechers ‘A constitutional court for South Africa’ in DJ van Vuuren et al South Africa in the Nineties (1991) HSRC Publisher 290. 2 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. 3 Pierre de Vos & Warren Freedman (eds) et al South African Constitutional Law in Context (2 ed Oxford University Press 2021) 26-27. 4 de Lange v Smuts NO 1998 (3) SA 785 (CC) para 60. 5 Hugh Corder ‘South Africa’s Constitutional Court at 30: a solid foundation but cracks are showing’ The Conversation (14 April 2024) < 6 National Department of Public Works v Fani and 77 Others [Collectively referred to as ‘Residents of Farm Greydel (Airport Park)] and Another [2024] ZASCA 43 (8 April 2024) para 5. Question 1 To provide context, define South African constitutional law. In your own words, with reference to provisions of the Constitution, case law and examples, explain South African constitutional law. (10) Question 2 What principle/doctrine in South African constitutional law is implied by the reference to the executive showing up late to court and not complying with its obligations? Explain this clearly with reference to appropriate theory and relevant case law.