Judge Dennis Davis
Transforming Countries into Democracies: South Africa and More Recent Cases
Summary
Roelf Meyer and Gill Marcus discuss their roles in South Africa’s transition to democracy, addressing issues of trust, institutional building, and challenges faced in the post-apartheid era. They also touch on global concerns about threats to democracy in various countries, emphasizing the significance of trust, hope, and a shared vision for a better future.
Judge Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis is a judge of the High Court of South Africa and judge president of the Competition Appeals Court of South Africa. He has held professorial appointments at the University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand, as well as numerous visiting appointments at Cambridge, Harvard, New York University, and others. He has authored eleven books, including Lawfare: Judging Politics in South Africa.
We were extremely fortunate that we had somebody like him, that we had a leader like him. If we apply the lessons we have learned from Mandela in our own lives and in the society that we find ourselves, then we can change the world. There’s sufficient examples in the whole experience of Mandela that we can all benefit from. And I think that is what we have to share and keep on telling others.
It was a question of saying that we are so fragile that if we need to actually ensure that we establish our authenticity, our ability to build this democracy. And we were much more social democratic. Let’s face it, the communist party and its role and its thinking might have had an influence, but it wasn’t in that core sense. So, I don’t think it was even thought about as a real option.
It’s unlikely. If we talk about going backwards, that is actually what is happening there. I’m talking about the state of democracy there. Every day we hear further bad news, about that situation. What we’ve seen since the departure of Mugabe is actually a further entrenchment of the political elite and as an extreme weakening of opposition, partly because of what they are not succeeding in achieving. There are new economic activities, but the contribution from that, largely goes into the illicit economy and the illicit economy benefits the elite and the political elite is effectively in control completely.