Demosthenes was an Athenian statesman and orator. He lived from 380 to 322 BC and his bust is preserved in the Louvre in Paris. The following is attributed to him and may have inspired St Paul in penning his letter to the Ephesians:

The strongest shield and safeguard for all, especially for the masses against tyrants, is mistrust of those in power. If you value liberty then guard that mistrust, hold fast to it. For every king, every despot is the sworn enemy of freedom.

South Africans, generally speaking, do value their liberty. The liberation struggle, which culminated in the adoption of the current constitutional dispensation, both bear testimony to the relevance and power of the final words of the National Anthem:

Let us live and strive for freedom in South Africa, our land.

Among the founding provisions in section 1 of the Constitution is the notion that the new dispensation is aimed at “the advancement of human rights and freedoms.” Chapter Two of the Constitution is the Bill of Rights which is aimed at the swift realisation of the rights and freedoms of the justiciable dispensation put in place in that chapter. This massive change in governance occurred after the parliamentary sovereignty of the old SA was replaced by the twin notions that the rule of law and the Constitution itself embody our supreme law. It is because the Bill of Rights is justiciable and also because it obliges the state to “respect, protect, promote and fulfil” the rights set out in the Bill of Rights, that it has been possible for many citizens to invoke the Bill of Rights to claim their constitutional entitlements when they are denied, threatened or short-delivered. The law reports abound with cases in which ordinary folk have claimed what is due to them under the Bill of Rights by resorting to litigation against the state after it has failed, neglected or omitted to uphold the rights guaranteed to all in the Bill of Rights.

The fact that politicians so frequently fall short of what the Constitution expects of them, especially in the field of the delivery of the many and varied human rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, suggests that Demosthenes was right in his warning that those in power are prone to becoming the sworn enemy of freedom.

The Constitution itself builds in safeguards against the abuse of power. This helpful feature can be interpreted as a manifestation of the distrust “we the people” have sought to address in the structure of our supreme law. The whole of its Chapter Nine, which sets up State Institution Supporting Constitutional Democracy, is designed to curtail excesses by politicians and public servants who try to paint outside the lines of the Constitution. (To attempt to do so is expressly regarded as invalid in terms of Section 2 of the Constitution.) Currently these institutions are:

The Public Protector

The SA Human Rights Commission

The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities

The Commission for Gender Equality

The Auditor General and

The Electoral Commission.

They are all “independent and subject only to the Constitution and the law.” They must be “impartial and must exercise their powers and perform their functions without fear, favour or prejudice”.

Other organs of state are obliged, constitutionally so, to assist and protect these institutions to ensure their independence, impartiality, dignity and effectiveness. No person or organ of state may interfere with the functioning of the Chapter Nine Institutions.

There are currently two private members bills pending in parliament, sponsored by the Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, Glynnis Breytenbach, which are aimed at the establishment and enablement of a new Chapter Nine Institution called “The Anti-Corruption Commission”. In law, and in theory, the constitutional amendment required for the bills to become law ought to enjoy the unanimous support of all parliamentarians. Fealty to the rule of law demands this as the Constitutional Court has ruled, in terms that bind parliament, that adequately independent anti-corruption machinery of state must be put in place. This has yet to be done despite an apex court ruling that:

 “Our law demands a body outside executive control to deal effectively with corruption.”

All of the recent commissions of inquiry that have been required to canvass corruption as an issue facing the nation have made it plain and/or exposed evidence that the SA state is not currently equipped to deal effectively with corruption. The judicial precedents set in the Glenister litigation bind parliament to remediate the situation as a requirement of the law. The voting public should mistrust all politicians who fail or neglect to comply with the orders of court made in that litigation.

The doctrine of the separation of powers is in place in SA. It obliges the various institutions of state, including the judiciary, to stay in their lanes and avoid encroachment on the preserves of others.

Before the advent of the GNU parliament was used as a “rubber stamp” of the executive. This unhealthy phenomenon ended with the termination of the “dominant party state” in May 2024. Since then, parliament has been coming into its own as a centre of power in the land, not a mere rubber stamp of those with their hands on the levers of power in the executive branch of government.

To remind those interested or involved in politics in SA of these requirements of the law, it is constitutionally required that, upon taking office, those in positions of authority are obliged to swear or solemnly affirm their fealty to the constitutional dispensation in place in SA. This involves confirming that they “will be faithful to the Republic of South Africa and will obey, respect and uphold the Constitution and all other law of the Republic…” The law requires that orders of court be implemented by those who are bound by them.

Registered voters eligible to vote in the November 2026 municipal elections should be astute to cast their votes for those parties and candidates who are most likely to uphold their oaths or affirmations in the discharge of their constitutional duties. Far too many politicians enter politics as a remunerative career option rather than as a calling to serve the public interest. Politicians who enter politics as a “get rich quick” career option are not to be trusted if the advice dispensed by Demosthenes before the dawn of the modern era is taken to heart by those who vote our politicians into office.

A healthy mistrust of those who put up their names as candidates for election is a means towards achieving the objective of having trustworthy politicians in office. The question to consider before voting in November and in future is: Can this party or politician be trusted to be faithful to the oath of office or solemn affirmation that precedes taking up office after election and will the law and the Constitution be upheld during the term of office that lies ahead?

The exhortation by Demosthenes is as valid today as it was when he expressed it some 2300 years ago. Voters will do well to heed his words.

The strongest shield and safeguard for all, especially for the masses against tyrants, is mistrust of those in power. If you value liberty then guard that mistrust, hold fast to it. For every king, every despot is the sworn enemy of freedom.

Paul Hoffman SC is a director of Accountability Now

[Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sniegowski/24443863480]

The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.

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Paul Hoffman

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Paul Hoffman SC, a native of Johannesburg and a Wits graduate, practised law at the side bar from 1975 to 1980 and at the Cape Bar from 1980 to 2006. He took silk in 1995 and acted on the Cape Bench at the invitation of three successive judges president. After retiring from the Bar, he was founding director of the Centre for Constitutional Rights and co-founder, in 2009, of Accountability Now, both NGOs that promote constitutionalism. He is best known for his work on the irregularities in the arms deals, on the unconstitutionality of the Hawks and on the bread cartel case in which a general class action was developed by the courts. Yoga and long dog-walks on the beaches and mountains around his home in Noordhoek help keep him inspired to seek that elusive better life for all. He is the author of many articles and two books, Confronting the Corrupt, and Countering the Corrupt.