"Parliament is supreme."
ANC treasurer-general Matthews Phosa
Parliament is indeed supreme. One might say that congress is good. But neither of these truths lend any weight to assertions that politicians are above the law or that the African National Congress is beyond reproach.
That said, you know you live in a democracy when, dishevelled and dressed in an equally dishevelled suit, ANC treasurer-general, chief flak catcher and court jester Mathews Phosa trundles in to Cape Town's free-to-air TV station to take a happy pasting by 3rd Degree anchor Deborah Patter and political commentator Justice Malala.
Malala is our Paganini Penman, a wickedly sharp journalist enjoying Mondli Makhanya's patronage at the Sunday Times. Justice has thrown many punches at government and he has pulled none of them. Accused by former small-town lawyer and sometime snake-oil salesman Phosa of cheap journalism, he's astute, on the ball, and as sharp as a new razor blade.
Mathews Phosa? You gotta love the guy. He comes across as a laid-back gangsta with a good heart of democratic spirit blessed with great political acumen. However, his conviction's a bit too thick for a decidedly thin skin that covers myriad misconceptions. He gave as good as he got, but he was on to a hiding to nothing.
Not that he minded. In a country where the ruling party is all there is to politics — sparing a thought for Helen Zille, government will do as it pleases. At issue is the disbanding of the Scorpions (Directorate of Special Operations in The National Prosecuting Authority), an independent, elite crime-fighting and anti-corruption unit based on outfits such as the FBI.
Note: We are speaking of the FBI circa 1990. Today's Infragard, a corporate TIPS program, smacks of the apartheid regime's Joint Management Committees.
Launched in 1999 with great fanfare by the ANC, the Directorate of Special Operations found graft and corruption too close to home and is now being summarily dissolved — or integrated into the South African Police Services (SAPS) which, represented by alleged criminal mastermind and former Interpol chief Jackie Selebi, amounts to the same thing.
In short, its autonomy is being revoked and its direct link to the National Prosecuting Authority, essential to formulating strong cases against sophisticated crime syndicates, is being severed. For NO GOOD REASON. And, let it be said, no-one is pushing Thabo, our lame-duck president, for explanations. For those working for the DSO, the future is decidedly bleak.
Phosa's main gripe with the Scorpions rests on his reading of an affidavit wherein a high-ranking Scorpion spelled out to staff that convictions of Jacob Zuma and Selebi would secure their future and make their name. This does not sit well with our Mathews, who sees a dark and nefarious political agenda at work — an agenda targeting his old friend "Jackie" and new president, "Awuleth' umshini wam" Zuma — as bent and twisted a politician as any that has wriggled free of culpability.
It might come as news to Phosa and his pals that politicking is not reserved for politicians — especially those who, according to acting Scorpions chief Mokotedi Mpshe, knew of Selebi's activities early last year but — rather than rid the country of the alleged criminal, rid the NPA and DSO of Bulelani Ngcuka (2004) and Vusi Pikoli (2007). Following such meddling by a government desperate to hide its indiscretions from the public eye, the Scorpions would understandably go for broke on cases involving those politicians.
The fact is, they've solved more crime and recovered more money and taken more drugs off the streets than the SAPS have in the past twenty years. Yet their profile remains low; they're perceived as existing at the whims of political hacks. In many ways, they need convictions against Zuma and Selebi to raise their profile and put a damper on rampant corruption.
Phosa, government and the South African people stand to lose a great deal — in every sense. Following what some perceive to be a Constitutional coup crime stands to become accepted social practice. South Africa's morale has sunk to all-time lows and the powers that be now pull the plug on our most efficient and successful antidote to despair. The Scorpions, who dared challenge the rot within, will go and Zuma and Selebi — perhaps guilty of crimes that would put the average voter behind bars for years, will escape prosecution.
No matter how democratic our TV debates and no matter how much I appreciate the openness of politicians like Phosa — and there are many like him, honest displays of unhinged self-interest tinged with an "I'll get you later" acrimony count for little when the activities of hoodlums take precedence over the Constitution our leaders swore and now profess to uphold and serve. They reduce a document they wish kids to live by to something akin to the American Constitution, i.e. nothing more than a goddamned piece of paper. Putting their self-enrichment before the interests of others, they might as well tear it up.
But yes, I'm left with mixed feelings. South African politics takes place within the ANC. Debate is robust, healthy, and sometimes downright ugly. That the ANC allows and unwittingly encourages a free press is extraordinary in a world where a healthy and vibrant Fourth Estate is not appreciated for the good it does. Such tolerance exhibits the depth and strength of our ruling party and it bodes well for our country.
That government will do as it pleases bares the flip side; a tendency towards totalitarianism that is alarming beyond quantification and measure.
With the Scorpions' ousting — and, no doubt, the court cases flowing from it, we'll quickly find out whether or not Beeshop Zuma's ANC (read Nat Nakasa) is a broad church built on Ma Sisulu's rock or a bush chapel thrown up on a bed of clay.
Afterthought: OK, so I'm bitching about the state of the nation. It's easy to do. At least we have a free press and don't face a future as bleak as this:
Beginning in 1999, the government has entered into a series of single-bid contracts with Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) to build detention camps at undisclosed locations within the United States. The government has also contracted with several companies to build thousands of railcars, some reportedly equipped with shackles, ostensibly to transport detainees.SF Chronicle | Rule by fear or rule by law?
At least I don't live in the States. Railcars and detention camps...kinda creepy, no?
