Mogoeng takes aim at Ramaphosa, NDZ for Covid-19 response

RECENTLY retired Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng yesterday criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa's administration's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and accused the government of interfering with citizens' fundamental rights in its fight against the deadly virus.

Justice Mogoeng was addressing the one-day virtual conference of the Forum of Institutions Supporting Democracy (FISD), which is chaired by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

The FISD Office of the AuditorGeneral; Commission for Gender Equality; SA Human Rights Commission; Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities; Financial and Fiscal Commission; Independent Communication Authority of SA; Electoral Commission of SA; Pan South African Language Board and the Public Service Commission attended.

In his address, Justice Mogoeng said: “The question is: ‘Has Covid-19 had a negative impact on good governance and ethical leadership? Has there been corruption, actual or perceived? If so what has the effect of these been on our constitutional democracy?”

The conference was organised to tackle the need for collaboration on the promotion of good governance and ethical leadership in response to the impact of Covid-19 and corruption on the country's constitutional democracy.

Justice Mogoeng said developments since the start of the pandemic in South Africa connote that Covid-19 and corruption have had a particular impact on the country's constitutional democracy.

He asked: “Did Covid-19 and the developments around it trigger the need for collaboration among Chapter Nine and allied institutions to address apparent lapses on good governance and ethical leadership in our constitutional democracy?”

According to Justice Mogoeng, Ramaphosa and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma used a structure that is neither constitutional nor statutory, the national coronavirus command council, to effectively undermine people's rights by extending the national lockdown since last year.

“Why have we allowed a structure that is neither constitutional nor statutory, a command council, and a minister of Cogta (Dlamini Zuma) and the president to interfere with our entrenched rights in this manner, and to extend lockdowns as easily as they do and in circumstances where more accountability would have been experienced if the National Assembly was allowed to enjoy its constitutional rights?” he asked.

Justice Mogoeng suggested that citizens should insist on accountability and openness from elected representatives and public debate on Covid-19-related issues in the National Assembly. He said South Africans should demand that the people's representatives have to extend “clear states of emergencies”.