Bontate le Bomme and the comrades, please find what the constitutional court said about the DPE and TRC case agaist the Speaker of National Assembly.
May be it is only fair to give you what Justice Peete read on behalf of Justice Monaphathi, Chief Justice and himself, otherwise the judgement is attached (DPE – TRC Constitutional Case). There was a question raised whether DPE and TRC have any right to appear before court claiming to represent people on issues of governance, democracy etc as the case was- on this the court said the duo have legal standing (ii) the court looked at right to participate in terms of Section 20(1) (a) of the constitution and the case in point and said that while the right to participate is upheld, the Standing Order N0.54 gives parliament discretion to conduct public hearing. The court said parliament has Standing Orders as its procedure but where the court feels they are used or avoided as the case may be to infringe on the rights then the courts can intervene (iii) on the constitutionality of the legislative procedure the court said the certificate of the Speaker on the Bill shall not be challenged in courts in terms of the constitution. The court found this to be a very helpful case and made no order on costs.
These are the points and they might have been presented not adequatly clear here, something that could have been corrected by the written judgement had it been in our possession. The two organisations will look at the judgement fully and decide what should be the next step. I hope this brief helps us to appriciate the situation better though not adequatly. Likhomo!
