Fight corruption with constitution, integrity
ADVOCATE Paul Hoffman, who has had four careers since 1975 as an attorney, advocate, activist and author, has stood up for what’s right and wrong in South Africa, defending the constitution and aiming his trajectory at those in public servant positions.
Hoffman was the speaker at the U3A meeting, held at Settlers Park last Thursday. He said he operates without fear, favour or prejudice and has been involved in unmasking the truth of several high-profile cases in South Africa.
In 2006, he left the Cape Bar in order to take up an appointment as director of the Centre of Constitutional Rights. His mission? To uphold the constitution. As director he wrote widely on threats to the constitution and appeared in the Constitutional Court as amicus curiae.
Three successive judge presidents of the Cape High Court invited him to grace their bench as an acting judge. Hoffman is also the co-founder of Accountability Now, an NGO that further promotes constitutionalism.
He is known for his involvement in exposing irregularities in the arms deal, on the unconstitutionality of the Hawks and the bread cartel case.
“Greed is at the core of today’s topic. There is a sense of entitlement around politicians, especially in South Africa. When they have their hands on too much power, it leads to corruption,” Hoffman said.
”It works like this; if your country is allowed to be corrupt, the value of your pension decreases. Civil service pensions do not get paid in a country that fails. And what makes a country fail? Corruption.
“The people must take responsibility and make sure the constitution is implemented. How can I as a pensioner do anything about the juggernaut of the state? Write to the Human Rights Commission.”
Hoffman referenced a statement made recently by Mzwanele “Jimmy” Manyi who said it is time to give up on the constitution and allow parliament to be sovereign.
Hoffman said the difference between now and the old system is that “now” South Africa has a supreme constitution, the old parliament was sovereign.
Hoffman said that since 1994 a grand total of R850-billion has “disapeared” in South Africa.
“This money would make it possible to address housing backlog. We cannot afford such leakage.”
He asserted most corruption is driven from the private sector.
“If you look at the arms deal, it is a classic example of a European businessman corrupting a new government in SA,” he said.
“We have come to the conclusion we will need an integrity commission. No other country has an integrity commission”.
“Our trajectory is in the wrong position. We have allowed a man, not once, but twice to be president. Yet it was known when he was first sworn in he is a man capable of taking a vulnerable woman who has HIV, who he had known since a child, into his bed. And then take a shower.
“Her version is rape. Even with his version, who wants a man like that to be president? The ANC,” he answered his own question.
Hoffman referenced ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and how he mentioned the Scorpions were taking too much interest in politicians and their friends.
According to Hoffman, the Constitutional Court is going to review the case of replacing the Scorpions with the Hawks, which means the court is to second-guess the executive branch of government.
Hoffman stated the ANC wants national democratic society to collapse so the country is party and state owned. This means no free press, no privately owned banks, nationalisation of mines, no independent judicial system and so forth, and that is why he started Accountability Now.