Over the last 25 years, the doctrine of separation of powers has been established as both a foundational value and a structural principle applied by the courts in interpreting the relationship between South Africa's constitutional structures. Jurisprudentially, the practicalities and contours of how, when and by whom the separation of powers should be determined has proven to be controversial. Therefore, the past decade has been characterised by heightened political contestation, often resulting in extensive litigation posing thorny political issues. This has had profound implications for the judiciary and raised difficult questions on the very nature of South African constitutionalism. These political contestations gathered even greater momentum and urgency during the early days of COVID-19 in 2020, when the first iteration of this book was produced as a special issue of the South African Journal on Human Rights. This timely volume brings together critical reflections on developments in South Africa's separation of powers jurisprudence and theory, the role and function of the judiciary through its judgments in shaping the landscape of constitutional politics, as well the implications of this for the consolidation of South Africa's democratic constitutional project. It makes an important contribution to the debate on the politics of constitutional adjudication in light of the doctrine of separation of powers. This book will be of interest to researchers and advanced students of politics, history, law and legal theory, human rights, and African studies.

The Wisdom of the Tortoise is about the African Tortoise named Mafana. Mafana is visited by a group of children who want to know the source of his wisdom. Mafana tells children about his life story. He recalls a time when he was ridiculed, teased, and mocked for his slowness by a hare named Nhamo who challenged Mafana to a race. Little did he know what Mafana was endowed with. Mafana was determined to prove to Nhamo that even lowly creatures have brains. He accepted the challenge and worked out a plan that left his competitor speechless and embarrassed. The book teaches about the benefits of living honest lives. We are each capable of great honesty in our lives, maybe great love and wisdom too.