People's Power and the Courts Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture, 2011

The topic of my lecture is 'People's Power and the Courts'. In the mode of all good preachers, I start with a text. In fact I have three : The Freedom Charter proclaims: 'The People Shall Govern!' President Zuma, in his recent address in the National Assembly bidding farewell to Chief Justice Ngcobo and welcoming Chief Justice Mogoeng, said: 'The powers conferred on the courts cannot be regarded as superior to the powers resulting from a mandate given by the people in a popular vote'. The Constitution says that one of the founding values of the Republic of South Africa is 'a multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness'.