IFP MEDIA STATEMENT BY: 
MR KOOS VAN DER MERWE MP
IFP SPOKESPERSON ON JUSTICE

12 March 2008

"The Minister of Justice can best be described as a sadist," says IFP Chief Whip, Koos van der Merwe MP.

This serious accusation follows the Minister's application to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal against a finding by the Pretoria High Court that she has failed to perform her function as required by section 237 of the Constitution by not considering 384 applications for pardon.

Van der Merwe said: "It is clear that she is a sadist. She has no compassion at all for the 384 prisoners who have been waiting on her for almost five years to process their applications for pardon. She has by now been found guilty by the Human Rights Commission of violating the human rights of those prisoners and by the Pretoria High Court of not doing her duty."

The Minister had initially defended the High Court case of the 384 prisoners on purely technical grounds. She admitted that the Minister of Justice has been preparing applications for presidential pardons for many years, but says there is no provision in the Constitution compelling her to do so.

Therefore nobody can force her to do her work. 

"This is scandalous," says Van der Merwe. "She is not only litigating on purely technical grounds at the cost of the taxpayer, but does not care a damn for 384 prisoners who have been languishing in prison for almost five years. She is now an official embarrassment for the judiciary, the ANC and South Africa." 

"I now call on President Mbeki to urgently intervene to put an end to the Minister's continuous violation of the human rights of those 384 prisoners and to instruct the Minister to immediately stop her sadistic games; accept the ruling of the Pretoria High Court and attend to the 384 applications on an extremely urgent basis." 
 

 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr Koos van der Merwe MP: 082 444 4944