What does the Constitution say about the duties of the President?

My basic point of departure is that one must look to the Constitution for clarity in regard to all matters pertaining to the tiers government (the executive, the legislature and the judiciary). Often it will provide explicit guidance as to how these arms of government should operate. Other times, it requires interpretation.

My letter to the Editor of the Business Day sets out some of the basic duties of the president (as head of the executive arm of government):


"Respect your readers

Published: 2009/07/23 06:30:32 AM

Over the past 18 months I have grown accustomed to the vitriolic diatribe on offer in your newspaper, courtesy of columnist Xolela Mangcu and political editor Karima Brown.
However, recently you published two articles, written by them, which plumb new depths of journalistic mediocrity (Zuma must beware the booby-trapped calls for “leadership”, July 16, and Zuma shows adroit touch at Reserve Bank, July 20) and sadly call into question whether one should continue to treat Business Day as a serious publication.

In an effort to postulate a most obtuse argument, namely that the president should be wary of mischievous pleas for him to demonstrate leadership, Dr Mangcu overlooks the president’s function, which is , inter alia, to “promote the unity of the nation and that which will advance the republic” (as defined in section 83 (c) of the constitution ). Moreover, he ignores the constitutionally defined pledge that Zuma took on May 9, to “always … (b) protect and promote the rights of all South Africans; … (d) do justice to all and (e) devote (him)self to the wellbeing of the republic and all of its people” (schedule 2 of the constitution).
I find Dr Mangcu’s endorsement of the president’s silence and inaction on a number of critical matters stupefying, to say the least.

But the piece de resistance in Dr Mangcu’s argument is highlighted in his assertion that the president would achieve a great legacy by merely creating a nation “in conversation with itself in search of solutions for its problems”.
I have since had a conversation with myself, and decided it would be imprudent to continue contributing 35% of my income to the National Treasury because I really cannot see the value in a president, with puffed-up cabinet, who does not see it fit to fulfil his constitutional covenant. The absurdity is palpable!

Where Dr Mangcu excels in dialogic (or should that be illogic?), Ms Brown consistently insults the intelligence of your readers. To be fair to her, though, she does an excellent job of pandering to the president and his allies.

That said, her eagerness to please the Zuma-led alliance has led to a patently contradictory article. She writes that “Zuma … has used his executive power to bring back several high-profile individuals who fell afoul of the Mbeki administration”, and uses Gill Marcus and Pravin Gordhan as examples of the president’s “adroit” manoeuvring. Besides being laughable, it is either plain sloppy or a deliberate attempt to advance her pro-Zuma agenda. Surely Ms Brown has not forgotten that minister Gordhan served as the commissioner of SARS (for nearly 10 years) and that Ms Marcus served as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank (for five years) at the behest of Thabo Mbeki ?

Perhaps in the future you could encourage your colleagues to have a higher regard for your readers. Alternatively, as I mentioned to my wife, I might be better served reading The Sun — that way my expectations will be matched by the quality of the journalism.

Max Ebrahim
Cape Town"