Pillay speaks here for the first time, of the days of exile and working with Oliver Tambo; of Operation Vula; the return home; and most tellingly of his time at SARS and the insidious campaign against him and others in the top layers of what once was a world-class tax institution. The story pulls back the curtains on a party and state which once held the moral high ground, but was debased.
Ghosts of archive draws on the discourses of deconstruction, intersectionality and archetypal psychology to mount an argument that archive is fundamentally and structurally spectral and that the work of archive is justice.
The book reminds South Africans about the Constitutional values which are pillars against which human rights and constitutional obligations lean and how they guide deeper understanding of constitutional principles.
The book serves to help the public to understand the Constitution and its imperatives better – to understand what went wrong in the past 27 years (actions and omissions) in relation to the upholding of constitutional values – and to understand what ought to have been done! And how that ought to have been done.
It identifies the conduct that delayed and delays performance of constitutional obligations especially owing to lack of diligence and disregard for constitutional values and principles by those occupying public office.
It reminds all citizens and office bearers that the Constitution is not a document of convenience. And exposes how those occupying public office including public servants fail to: use and abide by the law; and uphold the Constitution to ensure the realisation of human rights and perform constitutional obligations.
Parliament, provincial legislatures, municipal councils, the Executive, boards, members of commissions, accounting officers, managers and employees are recounted what they out to have done and how they ought to have conducted themselves.
Court judgments, investigation reports and reports of commissions of enquiry are used to evince and expose how constitutional values were disregarded and weakened.
The book assesses and encourages a high standard of ethics, professionalism, integrity, good governance and constitutionalism, and diligence in the performance of constitutional obligations.
It further suggests interventions and recommendations inter-alia the restructuring of the constitutional and legislative framework of certain constitutional bodies and statutory bodies such as Chapter 9 institutions and PANSALB towards a diligent and speedy realisation of human rights and service delivery, and thus uphold constitutional values.
The Garden Conservancy is celebrating its 25th anniversary with this beautifully illustrated book that documents a selection of the outstanding public and private gardens it has worked with since its founding in 1989. The book showcases eight gardens the conservancy has helped preserve and 43 of the more than 3,000 private gardens across the country that have been opened to the public through its Open Days Program. The private gardens cover a wide variety of regions, habitats, designs, and plants, from early spring through autumn. Featured private gardens include Panayoti Kelaidis’s rock garden in Denver, Colorado; Deborah Whigham and Gary Ratway’s collection of native and Mediterranean plants and earth walls in Albion, California; and James David’s imaginative mix of heat-tolerant plants, rills, and pools in Austin, Texas.