Former judge laments state of SA
Yacoob says President Zuma is a liar and racist
Anti-apartheid activist and retired Constitutional Court judge Zak Yacoob is concerned about the state of the country, but says he still has hope it will be mended because of the enlightening constitution.
Yacoob said: “Although I have said publicly that [President] Jacob Zuma and the majority of people that influence the African National Congress are liars and rogues, and though I have said that Jacob Zuma is a racist‚ my view still is that compared to 1994‚ we still have today an antiapartheid society which is still a million times better than what it was before.
“My criticism of today’s government, which remains completely strong‚ must not be equated with my criticism of the constitution. The constitution is wonderful.”
The outspoken judge‚ who is blind‚ is no stranger to going against the tide.
During his telephonic interview with TimesLIVE to mark the 21st anniversary of the constitution‚ he said the burning issue that he believed the Constitutional Court needed to take a look at was the decriminalisation of sex work.
“I am not saying sex work is a good thing, nor am I saying that it is a bad thing. The morality of it does not interest me‚” Yacoob said.
“I think making sex work criminal is wrong for the reason that it is against the right to make their own decision … [Prostitutes] are the most vulnerable people as far as HIV is concerned. We cannot solve the HIV crisis without decriminalising sex work, so I think that is an issue which I would love the court to reconsider.”
Having lost his eyesight at the age of 16 months due to meningitis‚ Yacoob is also passionate about the advancement and protection of the rights of those living with disabilities. He believes one of the greatest disabilities in the country is poverty. “There are millions of people with disabilities who are in the rural areas who have no food‚ no water‚ no clothes and they are in an absolute mess and they have no money or programmes to deal with them,” he said. Yacoob‚ who retired in 2013, believes that education is the only key to eradicating the problem. “That is why I am trying to educate as many people before I die.”