Publication: Mail and Guardian Issued: Date: 2007-12-21 Reporter: Brigitte Mabandla

2007 Report Card Part Two - Brigitte Mabandla : Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development

 

Publication 

Mail and Guardian
Date

2007-12-21

Reporter

Brigitte Mabandla

Web Link

www.mg.co.za


Brigitte Mabandla
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development
Grade: GG (2006: G)


It's a double G this time -- and that stands for "get going".

In the foreword to her department's latest annual report, Mabandla writes: "The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development's core mandate is, inter alia, to uphold the Constitution and provide for an appropriate environment for all people to exercise and enforce their rights."

This is a fair summary -- pity that Mabandla failed to teach by example in 2007.

She and her boss, Mbeki, suspended National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli, apparently for party-political reasons, with blatant disregard for the Constitution and the values it represents.

Since then, she has dodged the NPA as it has sought to brief her on the cases against both Selebi and Zuma.

Not that in other areas there is much to write home about.

The adoption of a legal services charter for transformation, hosting the first-ever national conference for magistrates and the roll-out of "massive" IT infrastructure at courts hardly cuts the mustard compared with the enormity of Pikoli's suspension and its constitutional implications.

With acknowledgements to Brigitte Mabandla and Mail and Guardian.