PRESS STATEMENT BY THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT JUDGEMENT
9 October 2012
Today the Constitutional Court has handed down its judgement on the challenge of constitutionality which I brought against the Rules of Parliament which prevented a Member of Parliament [MP] from introducing a Bill in the National Assembly. These rules required that an MP could only introduce a Bill if he first received the permission of the majority of his colleagues. The Constitutional Court found in my favour and rendered a judgment which accepted 100% of the relief which I sought.
This is not my personal victory, but a victory for South African democracy. I must thank and praise Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi for the support and inspiration that he has given to me and to all those who have been involved in this difficult piece of litigation. Prince Buthelezi is not new to fighting his battles for democracy in court rooms, as he has time and again brought about some of the most important judgements of the Constitutional Court which have shaped our democracy into what it is. Without his support, this new important landmark could not have been achieved, and he must rightly be credited for it.
The Constitutional Court has held that MPs have the constitutional right and obligation to introduce legislation and can do so without receiving the permission of anyone else. This judgement is a game-changer in our parliamentary democracy and takes South African democracy onto a new and higher level of engagement, which is finally on par with all established democracies of the world. This judgement removes what was one of the major shames in our democracy.
We need to prepare ourselves to finally have a democratic parliament. In the past 18 years, legislation has been drafted almost exclusively at the executive level and has been introduced by Ministers. MPs have often acted as rubber stampers and always been seized by the legislative initiative of the executive branch of government. Now MPs have the opportunity of causing parliament to be seized by the initiatives of parliamentarians.