A losing battle

LET’S SAY you built a really nice house. It took decades to create and during that time you made great sacrifices.

In the end, you succeeded in coming up with a really great design. It was so advanced that people from around the world admired it. Some even tried to copy the design.

The house is the constitution of the Republic of South Africa. It was built by the ANC and is one of the many positives the party has achieved in a history that spans more than a century.

Our constitution has its roots in the Freedom Charter, which even during the height of apartheid, reflected the vision of a non-racial, democratic state.

Our constitution makes a few things clear. This includes the fact that it is the supreme law of the land and that the Constitutional Court is the highest court in our country.

So, when the Constitutional Court clarifies that MPs should show loyalty to the constitution before their political party, it means just that – MPs owe their loyalty, first and foremost, to the constitution. That gives them the right to vote against the wishes of their party.

It is a point Gwede Mantashe, secretary-general of the ANC, should take note of. So, too, should provincial working committees of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State.

Mantashe and both these provincial structures have urged the ANC’s National Executive Committee to investigate and punish those MPs who voted with the opposition in Parliament to try to oust President Jacob Zuma from power.

The ANC’s provincial structures in Mpumalanga and Limpopo have taken a sober approach. They suggested the party should engage with all members, so as to restore discipline and unity. This would seem to be a more rational approach and one that is likely to have more success.

The reality is that should the ANC discipline any MP for not voting according to the party line, that member could turn to the courts.

Since we already know what the Constitutional Court has said in this regard, the outcome is pretty clear.

So why would the ANC start a battle it can’t win? Furthermore, all that the party would achieve is to undermine the very house it built.

It’s just not worth it.