Other cases the grouping that tried to block the state capture report has been involved in

Democracy in Action tasted defeat in its bid to prevent President Cyril Ramaphosa from getting hold of the first state capture commission of inquiry report.

The high court in Johannesburg struck from the court roll the organisation’s urgent bid to stop acting chief justice Raymond Zondo from handing over the report to Ramaphosa on Tuesday as the matter was not urgent.

Democracy in Action describes itself as a civil society organisation whose mandate is to support Chapter Nine institutions, constitutional democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Its chairperson is Thabo Mtsweni, who describes himself as a social justice activist. Here are some of the cases it has taken on:

1. In 2020, the organisation wrote a letter to Ramaphosa calling for the removal of public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan from office. It made this call after saying that — in the course of monitoring the proceedings of the state capture commission of inquiry —  it noted what amounted to admissions by Gordhan that he had been part of the establishment of an illegal unit within the SA Revenue Service. Nothing came from its demand.
2. The organisation has also been on the side of the public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane in her many legal battles in her office. In a statement released early last year after its first executive meeting for 2021, the organisation said one of the issues it deliberated on was the perjury charges brought by the NPA against Mkhwebane. “The constant abuse and victimisation of the public protector must come to an end,” Democracy in Action said. It said it will continue to raise and pay for all personal costs orders against the public protector, to make sure  that she continues to do her job without fear, favour or prejudice.
3. In June last year, the organisation was admitted by the Constitutional Court in the application by former president Jacob Zuma, where he sought to rescind the judgment by the court which sent him to prison for contempt.
4. The next month, the organisation was in the Western Cape High Court where it sought an order declaring thatparliament has failed to pass legislation in relation to the removal from office of the public protector, auditor-general and members of the commissions established under chapter 9 of the constitution. The court dismissed the organisation’s application in July.
5. In September, the organisation also created an account to assist with the legal fees and trauma counselling for Zinhle Majozi. Majozi, 36, the person behind the infamous Twitter account @African Soil —  “Sphithiphithi Evaluator” was arrested in August on charges of incitement of public violence after the looting of shops that started in KwaZulu-Natal and spread to Gauteng in July in reaction to the arrest of Zuma.

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