The Constitutional Court has unanimously ruled that the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act is unconstitutional because Parliament ‘overwhelmingly failed in facilitating public participation’, GroundUp reports.
Parliament has been given two years to re-enact the law ‘in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution’, or to pass a fresh law
The ConCourt says in its judgment, penned by Justice Leona Theron, that ‘the importance of public participation in South Africa cannot be understated’.
‘Affected persons must be afforded the opportunity to meaningfully participate in legislative processes. Public participation acts as a safeguard to prevent the interests of the marginalised being ignored or misrepresented.’
Justice Theron wrote: ‘Assessed together, the deficiencies which occurred at the different stages of public participation are numerous and numerical. Parliament attempted, in its submissions, to explain reasons for certain deficiencies as teething issues and lack of resources. Given the scale of the evidence gathered by the applicants, I am of no doubt that these deficiencies demonstrate a wide-ranging and substantial failure to facilitate public participation.
‘This renders the legislation invalid.’
According to GroundUp, the stated aim of the Act was to provide for the recognition of traditional and Khoi-San communities and their leadership positions, and to establish provincial and local representation as well as a National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders.
[Image: South African Tourism – Elia Fester, Kalahari Khomani San Bushman, Boesmansrus camp, Northern Cape, South Africa, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67613759]