South African Constitution for National Assembly-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theSouth African Constitution for National Assembly. Answer: Accountability of South African President The Constitution of South Africa gives inherent powers to the President to carry out all functions in accordance with the letter and spirit of the holy text. The President is called the Head of the State and under Article 83 of the Constitution the President is also the head of the executive. The Constitution by its words gives supreme powers to the President to uphold the dignity of the Republic. The Constitution is the supreme law of the Republic which gives power to the President to act like the Head of the State and act in the best interest of the State (Butler 2017). The President has to promote unity of the nation and shall act in accordance with the best interest of the public. Article 84 lays down the powers and functions of the President which are mandatory to carry out the functions of being the Head of the State. The powers and responsibilities of the President are multifarious. South Africa being a democracy there is separation of power and the President is accountable to the National Assembly. The National Assembly has the power to elect the President and also remove him. Measures to keep a check on the President According to Article 75 of the Constitution, the President shall enjoy the executive powers. All executive functions shall be carried out by the President. All legislative functions that fall within the competence of the Parliament shall be vested in the president. He shall act in accordance with the principles as enshrined in the Constitution (Gyimah-Boadi 2015). The Constitution mandates the President to be responsible, accountable and open to all the requirements of the Constitution. The President is under a social obligation to respect the Constitution and uphold the elements of participatory democracy. The President has to be accountable for the functioning of the democracy. The Parliament while holding the President accountable has to ensure that all the values are respected by him. In cases when the President disrespects the Constitution, the people retort. This is the way a democracy functions, where the President is made to answer in cases of failure of the justice system (F ombad 2016). Court Judgment In the case of Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker, National Assembly and Others2016 (3) SA 580 (CC); 2016 (5) BCLR 618 (CC), the duty of the President to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution was decided. On the directions of the Department of Public Works, the Presidents home underwent certain up gradations in the Nkandla homestead. The upgradation was very extensive and included more than security measures. The public complained and as a result, the public prosecutor launched an enquiry into the homestead (Sisk 2016). The National Treasury was involved in the assessment of the total cost of the measures that were implemented by the president, pay a reasonable percentage of the cost. The Ministers were also booked in the investigation and they were reprimanded for being involved in the up gradation project. The National Assembly had to make the remarks and had to report to the public prosecutors report within a timeframe of 14 days. The National Assembly conveniently answered to the report but did not answer any other query. The president was not even asked to pay the reasonable cost that was attached with the up gradation. The President by not replying to the report of the NA, was not even called for breach of his duty. The National Assembly absolved him of all the liabilities. The President acted in breach of his constitutional obligations. The NA was accountable for holding the President responsible. The NA acted in violation of its duties. Therefore, the act of the National Assembly exonerating the President from all his duties was unconstitutional and against the principles of fairness. The powers exercised by NA to keep a check on the actions of the President have been effective so far. Examples of accountability In deciding the accountability, the tussle is always in preserving the democratic rights and giving due recognition to the democracy in a country. The president is the one governing the democracy and he should be made accountable. Whenever a president is assuming powers in a democracy, he has to be made responsible (Fine 2018). The first measure than can be undertaken in a democracy is by limiting the tenure of the president. If a president is made to hold office for a long time, he shall become arbitrary and that will be against the principles of democracy. Another way to measure the accountability is to check their powers and make them answerable to the public. The President is answerable to the Parliament and therefore the Parliament should be given wide powers to ensure that the President does not act in the breach of its constitutional duties and powers (Clark and Worger 2016). The separation of power takes away all the autonomous powers from the President and thus makes him acc ountable to the Parliament. This keeps a check on his powers. Reference Butler, A., 2017.Contemporary South Africa. Palgrave. Clark, N.L. and Worger, W.H., 2016.South Africa: The rise and fall of apartheid. Routledge. Fine, B., 2018.The political economy of South Africa: From minerals-energy complex to industrialisation. Routledge. Fombad, C.M. ed., 2016.Separation of Powers in African Constitutionalism. Oxford University Press. Gyimah-Boadi, E., 2015. Africa's Waning Democratic Commitment.Journal of Democracy,26(1), pp.101-113. Sisk, T., 2017.Democratization in South Africa: The elusive social contract. Princeton University Press.