Posted on May 5th, 2008 by Pierre De Vos
Maybe we are beginning to see why Helen Zille is so adamant to stop the Erasmus Commission from doing its job. Newspapers this weekend reported on allegations made by Premier Ebrahim Rasool in papers before the High Court in the application to have the Erasmus Commission of Enquiry declared illegal and/or unconstitutional and they make veryy interesting reading indeed.
No wonder Helen Zille has seemingly lost the plot and continues to argue (falsely) that the Constitutional Court has said that judges should not get involved with commissions of enquiry if there is any chance that it would be politically controversial.
This is false because in South African Association of Personal Injury Lawyers v Heath the Constitutional Court said that given the principle of the separation of powers in our Constitution, a judge should not perform a task that is âincompatible with judicial officeâ and that one of the factors that might be relevant in deciding whether the task is incompatible with judicial office would be whether it would âcreate the risk of judicial entanglement in matters of political controversyâ.
But the Court also said that judges can preside over commissions on inquiry because the performance of such a function âordinarily calls for the qualities and skills required for the performance of judicial functions â independence, weighing-up of information, and giving a decision on the basis of a consideration of relevant informationâ.
Maybe Ms Zille has something to hide after all? From the Cape Times comes this report:
Premier Ebrahim Rasool alleges that Mayor Helen Zille may have had a bigger role than she has asserted in the citys dealings with the private investigators hired to probe councillor Badih Chaaban.
This is among charges levelled by Rasool in an affidavit he submitted to the High Court on Wednesday, in response to the citys application last month to have the Erasmus Commission declared invalid.
Rasool alleged Zille had âregular Monday morning meetingsâ with operatives of the investigating firm, George Fivaz and Associates.
The meetings had also been attended by DA members who are not city council office-bearers. He charged that her telephone records pointed to âpersonal contactsâ with the investigations firm.
This morning Zille dismissed Rasools allegations as âliesâ that were âvery easy to refuteâ.
Interesting stuff. I am looking forward to hear Ms Zilles side of the story (apart from a blanket denial which does not really enlighten us) and to hear how she will refute these claims. If they are easy to refute, I am sure she will let us have all the evidence to refute these claims in the next day or two.
Source : http://constitutionallyspeaking.co.za/?p=532
Photo : http://www.theplatelady.com/plates3/geppetto-creates-pinocchio.jpg