Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza SC argued before the Constitutional Court that former President, Jacob Zuma, didn’t understand that his powers to sign International Protocols could only be exercised after consulting parliament.
Ntsebeza and Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi are representing the Law Society, that wants the ruling of the North Gauteng High Court, that found that Zuma acted irrationally and unconstitutionally when he signed the SADC Protocol in 2014, to be upheld.
The Law Society and six Zimbabwean individuals and companies want the court to order President Cyril Ramaphosa to withdraw South Africa’s signature.
The applicants are arguing that signing the 2014 Protocol would trigger processes like ratification – and eventually strip ordinary South Africans and other SADC citizens of their rights to seek legal recourse for human rights violations outside the country’s justice system.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has repeatedly asked if the signing of the Protocol without ratification was of any consequence.
