ANC fears coup
Charging cabinet for Al-Bashir escape is like overthrowing the government New court ruling would be impossible to implement, says Mantashe
THE ruling by North Gauteng High Court judge Dunstan Mlambo that the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) should consider a criminal prosecution against the cabinet is akin to a coup.
This is according to ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, who said yesterday: “Imagine the whole cabinet being prosecuted and locked up. That will be a coup. It will be a declaration of a state of emergency in the country.”
Mantashe was reacting to Mlambo’s ruling that the government violated a court order that stated that the Department of Home Affairs prevent Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from leaving the country two weeks ago. He was in the country to attend the African Union summit.
Mantashe said the ruling was a “political judgment” and very “narrow ” in approach.
He, however, acknowledged that the ruling appreciated there would have been a war in Africa had the government agreed to arrest Al-Bashir on behalf of the International Criminal Court (ICC), of which SA is a signatory.
The court concluded that SA, as a member of the ICC, was obliged to arrest Al-Bashir.
The judge said under the Rome Statute terms, heads of state do not enjoy immunity under its terms. “It means that the immunity that might otherwise have [been] attached to (Al-Bashir) as head of state is excluded or waived in respect of crimes and obligations under the Rome Statute,” he said.
But Mantashe raised a concern that in any country, government and judiciary have to move in the same direction.
“If the two are in conflict it means we will have an unworkable government. This ruling on prosecuting cabinet will be impossible to implement.”
On Tuesday, Minister of Small Business Lindiwe Zulu told the National Assembly that the decision to let Al-Bashir go was a collective cabinet decision.
Mlambo yesterday warned that ignoring court orders spelled serious trouble for the country’s constitutional order.
“As a court we are concerned with the integrity of the rule of law and the administration of justice, ” he said.
The judge said a democratic state based on the rule of law could not exist or function if the government ignored its constitutional obligations and failed to abide by court orders.
He said Al-Bashir’s departure in the full awareness of the court order demonstrated non-compliance with the court. “For this reason we also find it prudent to invite the NDPP to consider whether criminal proceedings are appropriate,” the judge said.