From your honour to honourable member?
From the bench to the benches — and a chance to talk back to a judge
f you’re bored with the EFF’s parliamentary theatrics, fear not, for much improved theatre is coming soon to the National Assembly.
The arrival of the MK Party with its 58 delegates to that august house is sure to give the nation some parliamentary television worth watching.
For the new (self-proclaimed) leader of the opposition is former Western Cape judge president John Hlophe, whose arrival in parliament may leave a bitter taste in the mouth for many — such as those members of the Judicial Service Commission and numerous lawyers, advocates, judges and others who may have been part of his slow march to impeachment — but will no doubt be very sweet for him and his defenders.
That Hlophe, the first judge to be impeached in South African history, may yet get to choose new judges is a thought that will probably make many heads explode.
Such is politics. As pundits point out, there’s nothing stopping him from becoming an MP.
We may expect some fiery and reasoned oratory from the “leader of the opposition” for we are told he’s excellent at it.
Whether it will have substance remains to be seen (one could say the jury’s out on that but that’s a poor gag, too soon).
It will certainly be better than the tiresome points of order from the red berets.
Either way, the National Assembly is probably going to be a fractious and divided place as a government of national disharmony grapples with dissent from the outside and the inside.
Still, fine oratory may not be enough. What will count for the opposition is strong leadership that can tame the passions in the ranks. And judges, by definition, generally make lousy leaders.
So buckle up, because the show’s just starting.