Justice Zak Yacoob Former Decide of the South African Constitutional Courtroom, Talking at Arappor Iyakkam Workplace in Nungambakkam on Monday. , Picture Credit score: VELANKANNI RAJ B
Institutional mechanisms typically crumble underneath the burden of corruption, and what’s required is a social revolution the place the voters could also be transformed to trustworthy individuals, Zakeria Mohammed Yacoob, retired South African decide, mentioned right here on Monday.
“Corruption is the worst half,” Decide ‘Zak’, as he’s fondly referred to as, mentioned. “In the long run, you possibly can have construction… you possibly can have individuals appointed, and naturally you possibly can have particular electoral courts as a result of electoral disputes should be decided very, very quick. I’ve discovered that each one these mechanisms, whereas they’ve labored for us previously, do not work any extra,” Zak added, chatting with a bunch of scholars, regulation practitioners, and incapacity activists on the workplace of Arappor Iyakkam, the Chennai-based anti-corruption marketing campaign group.
“I did plenty of pondering. What do you do? How can we enhance the buildings? How can we make issues higher than they’re? Then I spotted that we have now bought to transform the voters into being good trustworthy individuals earlier than we are able to do it. What we want is a sort of social revolution. We must always attempt to make a majority of individuals in society trustworthy and usually honorable,” Zak noticed. “Just remember to have buildings rather than trustworthy individuals who attempt to make trustworthy individuals of others and it is a very sturdy revolutionary course of.”
Sprucing up the schooling system to uphold morals and reduce biases was the best way ahead, he maintained.
Requested about his opinion on individuals with disabilities beginning a political celebration, he mentioned he would quite need individuals with disabilities to take part in society and be an integral a part of it. All political events, he mentioned, ought to work to make sure that individuals with disabilities had been correctly catered to.
Responding to a query, he mentioned he was fairly thrilled that South Africa had taken Israel to the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice for “wholesale exploitation, killing, and extermination of the individuals of Gaza”.
V. Suresh, advocate and human rights activist, Jayaram Venkatesan, co-founder, Arappor Iyakkam, and Sudha Ramalingam, advocate and rights activist, had been current.
Printed – December 23, 2025 05:30 am IST