Daily Dispatch
A judge of fine leadership
On Monday evening this newspaper hosted retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke for one of our dialogues following the publishing of his memoir: My Own Liberator.
Moseneke has served in the country’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, since 2002 and for 11 of those 14 years he was the deputy chief justice. It is no doubt that he remains one of the best legal minds this country has ever produced and represents the kind of selfless spirit and excellence expected of our public servants.
At a time the country is crying for leadership, the likes of Moseneke remind us that there are still worthy leaders in our society and that there is hope that we can produce more of them.
On the night the recently retired jurist was his usual erudite self as he reflected on a number of topical issues, from #FeesMustFall, his role at the Constitutional Court to Pretoria’s decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute. Once again he reminded those present what a loss his retirement was to our democracy and more especially our Constitutional Court.
Moseneke was overlooked twice for the Chief Justice’s position following the retirement of the late Pius Langa in 2009. In his wisdom President Jacob Zuma – despite overwhelming consensus that Moseneke be appointed as the chief justice – thought otherwise. Clearly politics were at play.
On Monday evening Moseneke was honest to admit he would have loved to have been appointed to the top position but when it became clear he would not get it, he accepted his fate and decided to fully support the new chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. This is the kind of leadership that only a few exhibit. To his credit Mogoeng has also proven himself to be a worthy leader of our country’s apex court.
At the Dispatch Dialogue, Moseneke gave a chilling take on the decision by the Cabinet to withdraw South Africa from the International Criminal Court (ICC). While he admitted that the decision by the superpowers (United States, China and Russia) in the United Nations not to ratify the Rome Statute – the treaty which established the ICC – did weaken the standing of the court, he was frank about the dangers of our country withdrawing from it.
“The day and time might come for victims, even in this country to require protection by the ICC. But it is a problem to say I do not like the ICC without saying how African people can be protected from uprisings, plundering, corruption and theft,” he said.
South Africa may still have a strong judiciary and a populace that respects and is subservient to the courts, but there is a danger things could change. With the president having been found to have violated the constitution at least twice – first by the Constitutional Court and then by the public protector – we may be on a dangerous path to a time where the public thinks it is acceptable to disrespect our courts and laws.
At a time like this, we actually need more voices like Moseneke in our body politic.