 (1).png){kind=spacer}
3 months ago
128
Former Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe.
Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party regarded itself as the official opposition and would use that role to fight for the abolishment of private land ownership, its new parliamentary leader, former judge John Hlophe, said on Tuesday.
“We consider ourselves, the party, as the official opposition of the country because the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is now part of the government of national unity,” Hlophe said after being sworn in as a member of the National Assembly, along with the rest of the party’s caucus.
“We are going to work together very closely with other progressive parties in the opposition. I have in mind the EFF [Economic Freedom Fighters], I have in mind the ATM [African Transformation Movement] and other progressive parties.
“We stand for the issue of land in this country, and we are not apologising for it. We want each and every South African, black or white, to have access to land.”
Hlophe said the MK party would work for “the reinstatement of African law”, in particular with regard to land.
“The land in Africa can never be the subject of private ownership. The land belongs to the nation, it does not form part of private ownership.”
He said he saw no reason the premise should be seen as shocking.
“And we are not alone in that regard. Look at the UK; the land in England belongs to the queen, everybody else has a 99-year leasehold,” added the former Western Cape judge president and Cambridge University law graduate.
“And there is no suggestion that in England because the land belongs to the queen, there is no suggestion that the price of housing has dropped. Yet, in Africa we are told if we do that the rand is going to drop. We have been fooled for far too long.”
He said although the MK argued for the amendment of the Constitution, it would work within the law to bring about legislative change.
“We are not hooligans,” he told reporters.
“We are going to engage in a very robust but respectful manner, but please make no mistake, we are not going to allow ourselves to be bullied by anyone.”
Hlophe was impeached by parliament in February after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) concluded that he made himself guilty of gross misconduct. The charge stemmed from his attempt in 2008 to influence two judges of the constitutional court to rule in a manner favourable to former president Zuma in cases related to the arms deal corruption charges.
Asked on Tuesday whether he would avail himself to become a commissioner of the JSC when parliament designates its representatives to the body in coming days, Hlophe said the party had yet to take a decision.
“I think it would be premature of me to make that suggestion. I obviously have expertise. I have been a judge for 29 years, so I know the system in and out but if there are people who are suitably qualified people or who are willing to go, they will be deployed.”
He said he believed there were many portfolio committees where he could apply his knowledge, including that on justice or those in the security cluster.
“There are so many committees where I could be of assistance.”
Hlophe was not on the party’s electoral list, and his intention to join its caucus as parliamentary was announced only last week. The party’s chief whip is Sihle Ngubane.
The party won 58 seats in the National Assembly but boycotted its first sitting in a misguided bid to rob the chamber of standing to re-elect Cyril Ramaphosa as president.
The group, including Zuma’s daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and his former shock choice as finance minister Des van Rooyen, were finally sworn in by the speaker of the National Assembly, Thoko Didiza, and acting Western Cape judge president Patricia Goliath in a brief sitting on Tuesday. Goliath in 2020 brought misconduct charges against Hlophe that will be investigated by the Judicial Conduct Tribunal.
Hlophe said the fact that MK MPs had taken the oath did not mean the party was dropping its legal challenge to the outcome of the May elections, and by extension the composition of the chamber.
“We are convinced that these elections were rigged, that is our case, and the case has been taken to appropriate forums,” he said.
The party has alleged in papers filed to the electoral court that had there not been electoral fraud, it would “in all likelihood” have won outright majority in the poll.
Hlophe said he was grateful to Zuma for founding the MK party because they held the shared view that the ANC had lost its way.
“[It] has gone completely astray. It is not the ANC that we used to know, particularly over the past five years under the leadership of Cyril Ramaphosa. This is no longer the ANC that fights for the poor.”
He made clear that MK planned to position itself as the champion of the poor.
“We are not here for positions, we are not here for power. We as the MK are here to serve poor people in this country, ranging from black or white.”
He predicted that Ramaphosa’s government of national unity will be riddled with strife stemming from the ideological divisions between the ANC and the DA.
“In fairness to them, clearly we are going to have teething problems but clearly there is going to be uncertainty, it seems to be, there is going to be more uncertainty than unity.”
He said the MK party has not yet decided whether it would support the EFF’s call to revive the report of a section 89 panel that recommended Ramaphosa face impeachment on charges stemming from the theft of foreign currency at his Phala Phala game farm.
“But it is an issue which remains on the agenda as far as parties are concerned and it is a serious issue, because I believe the president got away, he has been getting away.”
Also among the MPs to be sworn in was former sports, art and culture minister Zizi Kodwa of the ANC, who faces corruption charges. Kodwa stepped down from his position after he was charged, and on Tuesday would not answer questions regarding his belated swearing-in, beyond saying: “This was the only available opportunity.”
