Paul Hoffman The ANC, still the largest party in Parliament but no longer in the majority, has stated publicly that it needs to renew, or it will perish. It has learnt well from its predecessor in government, the National Party, which adopted a similar slogan...
Does the prosecution authority in SA have any prospect of acting independently?
Under the Constitution SA has a single national prosecuting authority (NPA) led by a National Director appointed by the president, with Directors of Public Prosecutions for all provinces and, at the bottom of the organisation, legions of prosecutors. According to...
Revolution vs constitution: The challenges of governance in South Africa’s new coalition era
By Paul Hoffman The collective responsibility and accountability of the multi-party Cabinet of the GNU does not derive from the ANC’s notion of democratic centralism. It derives from the Constitution, our supreme law. There seems to be a good prospect of the fracas...
LETTER: GNU reset must be constitutional
Civil society will litigate to invalidate any change that violates the founding document The talk of a “reset” for the 10-party coalition that has governed in SA since the election in May 2024 has to be seen within the context of the constitution, which prescribes...
NPA’s ability to act independently deeply compromised by political interference and corruption
By Paul Hoffman The ANC’s desire for hegemony and the corrupt ways of many in its leadership have left the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in tatters, especially after it was gutted during the heyday of the State Capture period. Under the Constitution, South...
LETTER: Cabinet must act collectively
07 April 2025 - 17:29 In all the wholly unnecessary fuss around the spat over a 0.5 percentage point hike in VAT, politicians have lost sight of the constitutional responsibilities of the cabinet. All in cabinet are “accountable collectively and individually to...
Mediation is to some lawyers what internal combustion engine was to most farriers
Paul Hoffman | 03 April 2025 Paul Hoffman says if compulsory mediation is legislated in SA, parliament must insist all mediators be qualified independent professionals Farriers are the folk who shoe horses. The demand for their services dwindled sharply when the...
How to resolve the GNU Budget dispute over raising VAT
By Paul Hoffman There is currently some R89bn swilling around in the financial services sector that is unclaimed. It emerged during the interview that there is currently a pool, or more accurately pools, aggregating some R89-billion swilling around in the financial...
LETTER: State could take over R89bn in unclaimed funds
Many South Africans appear not to be too careful about their money. According to media reports sourced from Erica Liebenberg of Just Money, there is a pool of R89bn swilling around in the financial services sector that is unclaimed by those who are entitled to claim...
LETTER: Rasool dug his own grave
Former SA ambassador was bound to be expelled after badmouthing the US When the new SA was born some three decades ago “we the people” declared our intent to “build a united and democratic SA able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of...
LETTER: Cosatu stuck in the past
Federation deputy president says changing NHI legislation would be unconstitutional You reported a grievous misapprehension by union federation Cosatu as to the meaning and import of the concept “unconstitutionality” (“Cosatu urges Ramaphosa not to negotiate sections...
LETTER: Steinberg asks the wrong question
The president does not get to choose whether to follow the rule of law, he takes an oath to do so In an otherwise insightful piece, Jonny Steinberg poses the wrong question when he asks, “Does he [President Cyril Ramaphosa] really want an efficient justice system if...
Do SA politicians take countering corruption seriously?
In the carefully chosen words of the Constitutional Court, “(t)here can be no gainsaying that corruption threatens to fell at the knees virtually everything we hold dear and precious in our hard-won constitutional order”. These words are in paragraph 166 of the joint...
Mashatile’s irresolvable, intractable and unmanageable conflict of interests on SAA CEO
By Paul Hoffman The part that Paul Mashatile played in the appointment of John Lamola as the new SAA CEO is a direct conflict between the interests of the ANC in cadre deployment and his overall official duties as deputy president. The canary in the coal mine for...
Is there a place in the sun in SA for Afrikaners?
Paul Hoffman 27 February 2025 Paul Hoffman notes that in 2004 ConCourt stripped whites of their protection against racial discrimination The fluidity in politics worldwide seems to be stimulating push-back in SA against the 140 odd race based laws introduced since...