From mere Christmas decorations to concrete constitutional ethics EFF v speaker of the National Assembly; DA v speaker of the National Assembly 2016 3 SA 580 (CC)

Abstract

“There’s a President who’s sure all that glitters is gold and he’s building a homestead at Nkandla. When he gets there, he knows, even if the tuck shop is closed with a word he could get what he came for. Ooh, ooh, and he’s building a homestead at Nkandla.” The above is an adaptation of the first verse of the 1971 hit song “Stairway to heaven” by Led Zeppelin (see http://bit.ly/2gCXfnb, accessed on 2017-04-14). The original song was composed by the guitarist Jimmy Page and the vocalist Robert Plant. Plant explained the lyrics as referring cynically to a woman who got everything she wanted, all of the time, without giving back any thought or consideration. It is suggested that this particular attitude can also be attributed to the former South African President, Mr Jacob Zuma, since he allowed taxpayers’ money to be utilised for his private benefit.