Deputy Speaker, last week, in the heat of the farm violence in the Western Cape, Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson made the most outrageous promise. She told the farm workers that she would ensure that no farm worker would face criminal or disciplinary sanctions and that she would speak to the National Prosecuting Authority and the Minister of Police to ensure that all cases of intimidation and public violence were withdrawn. These statements are the latest nails in the coffin of the criminal justice system in South Africa.
What the Minister was saying is that she is quite confident that she, or those to whom she has access, control the National Prosecuting Authority, the Police and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. There is no other possible way that she could make a promise like that with the confidence that she could keep it.
What right does she think she has to engage in interference in the justice system to ensure that people who have laid charges do not receive the access to justice to which they are constitutionally entitled?
Essential ingredients of a successful constitutional democracy are the rule of law and the separation of powers. These are critical to counter the abuse of power. Minister Joemat-Pettersson's statements fundamentally undermine these principles.
We call on the Ministers of Justice and Constitutional Development and of Police to repudiate these statements unconditionally and assure the House that they will do whatever possible to ensure that no interference in police investigations or the National Prosecuting Authority takes place in respect of these matters. Thank you. [Applause.]