Transcript of speech by COPE President, Mosiuoa Lekota, in the Debate on Matter of Public Importance: The Implications of the Attendance and Departure of President Omar Al-Bashir from the African Union Summit in South Africa, National Assembly, Cape Town, Tuesday, July 23 2015

Mr M G P LEKOTA: Deputy Speaker, when our country ratified the Rome statute in 2002-03, we were not compelled by anybody, we did so of our own accord. And we did so because of our steadfast commitment to cherish human rights, to prevent genocide and act against those who committed such heinous crimes.

All of this was known to the President and his executive. So, when President Zuma’s government gave President Al-Bashir an assurance that he could come to South Africa with legal immunity, it took the decision to transgress the law of our land and international law. When the President and some of his Cabinet Ministers defied an order of the court not to allow President Al-Bashir to slip out of the country while it considered the case, they acted in contempt and in direct violation of the authority of our judicial authority. [Interjections.]

An HON MEMBER: They must be locked up.

Mr M G P LEKOTA: It is not our view that Al-Bashir is guilty of anything. It is our view that he must go and appear before an open and fair judicial authority to hear evidence against him and then to reply and prove his innocence. That is what we want.

This must be done, because we should have asked these questions when we signed and ratified in this House. [Interjections.] If we did not want to obey this, we should have taken action to reverse our commitment to this.

What has been done in the name of the people of South Africa is a serious crime. The leadership – President Zuma and his Cabinet – and those who colluded do not deserve to lead us. They have failed to uphold the constitution of our land. The oaths you made mean nothing. You lied to us when you said that you would uphold the Constitution and the law and be an example. You have misled the people of our country. Now we are ashamed before the nations of the world. [Interjections.] We don’t agree with what you have done.

The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: The hon member just said that we lied. [Interjections.] We lied about upholding the Constitution.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, we will come back to that.

Source: Unrevised transcript, Hansard.