TUESDAY, 5.30PM:
Justice Minister Dullah Omar on Tuesday questioned whether a provincial referendum on the death penalty – called for by Western Cape Premier Hernus Kriel – will be legal or appropriate.
Noting that the call for a referendum is likely to enjoy wide emotional support, he said he felt “it is wrong for leaders of government and political parties to embark upon a project which will effectively misdirect the energies of people and divert their attention from the real problem” – and his view that it is the province which has failed to provide safety and security.
TUESDAY, 8.30AM:
Western Cape premier Hernus Kriel has revealed plans to hold a provincial referendum on the death penalty early next year. Kriel’s spokesman, Chris Koole, said lawyers had advised Kriel it is possible to reintroduce the death sentence in one province.
Kriel, the country’s only National Party premier, said the referundum would make use of a loophole in the Constitutional Court’s earlier ruling that the death penalty is incompatible with the Bill of Rights.