Zuma may be a liar and rapist but SA still has a beautiful Constitution: Yacoob

10 December 2017 - 15:15 By Naledi Shange
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Former Constitutional Court Judge Zak Yacoob. File photo.
Former Constitutional Court Judge Zak Yacoob. File photo.
Image: MOELETSI MABE

Anti-apartheid activist and retired Constitutional Court judge Zak Yacoob is concerned about the state of the country but says he still has hope it will be mended because of the enlightening Constitution.

Reflecting on his judicial work which began in the apartheid era‚ Yacoob said: "Although I have said publicly that [President] Jacob Zuma and the majority of people that influence the African National Congress are liars and rogues and though I have said that Jacob Zuma is a racist‚ my view still is that compared to 1994‚ we still have today an anti-apartheid society which is still a million times better than what it was before"

“My criticism of today’s government which remains completely strong‚ must not be equated with my criticism of the Constitution. The Constitution is wonderful. My criticism of the government is that they are acting anti a constitution.”

The outspoken judge‚ who is blind‚ is no stranger to going against the tide.

During his telephonic interview with TimesLIVE‚ he said the one burning issue that he believed the Constitutional Court needed to take a look at was the decriminalisation of sex work.

"I am not saying sex work is a good thing nor am I saying that it is a bad thing. The morality of it does not interest me‚" Yacoob told The Times during a telephonic discussion with the publication on December 10‚ which marked the 21st anniversary of the Constitution.

"I think making sex work criminal is wrong for the reason that it is against the right to make their own decision… [Prostitutes] are the most vulnerable people as far as HIV is concerned .We cannot solve the HIV crisis without decriminalising sex work so I think that is an issue which I would love the court to reconsider in the Constitution era of today.”

Having lost his eyesight at the age of 16 months due to meningitis‚ Yacoob is also passionate about the advancement of and protection of the rights of those living with disabilities. Yacoob believes one of the greatest disabilities in the country is poverty.

“There are millions of people with disabilities who are in the rural areas who have no food‚ no water‚ no clothes and they are in an absolute mess and they have no money or programmes to deal with them… I think that they are much worse off than a person like me who has a disability but who has everything‚” said Yacoob.

“So in a way‚ in our country‚ poverty is a very serious disability in its own right and if you then combine a person being born in a rural area who cannot walk or see or hear or who has mental troubles and they have no food‚ no water‚ no clothes‚ that is a death trap second to none‚” he added.

Yacoob‚ who retired in 2013 and continues to give lectures about the Constitution‚ believes that education is the only key to eradicating the problem.

“That is why I am trying to educate as many people before I die‚” he said.

  • Editor's note: Following the publication of this article Yacoob contacted TimesLIVE and requested a correction, indicating that he mispoke.He had meant to say "rapist" not "racist". Although the audio recording reflects racist, Timeslive has agreed to amend the article as Yacoob has admitted that the error was his.
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