With due respect to
all those who sacrificed so much for equality, democracy and non-racialism…
C4L has become a staunch proponent of Constitutionalism, not
just from watching current events, but from its first-hand experience of losses
and damages at the hands of Triumphalists in 2012. Those events are now reaching both the
criminal and civil courts, two years later.
It could take another 2 years to wrestle the perpetrators to the ground,
so to speak. This reminded is stated
first just so that what follows is not seen as detached arm-chair
intrusion. We want triumphalism to be
brought under control, for it has been running amuk for far too long.
Today the United States ambassador has raised diplomatic objections
to comments made by the vice-minister of defense, not just implying but stating
that the Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is a CIA agent. The ambassador, an African American, is right
that South Africans can see through smoke screens and are not likely to believe
such a fairy tale.
What the vice-minister said at a public event on Saturday
is: “We can't allow people to hijack the ANC. We'll fight and defend the
African National Congress. uThuliumele asitshele ukuthi ubani ihandler yakhe
[Thuli must tell us who her handler is].”
He reportedly went on to say: "They are even using our institution
now.... These Chapter Nine institutions were created by the ANC but are now
being used against us, and if you ask why it is the Central Intelligence
Agency. Ama [the] Americans want their own CEO in South Africa and we must not
allow that.”
Madonsela has already taking appropriate action. The short statement issued by her office
says: “The public protector has decided not to fully comment for now, except to
say that a letter is being prepared to ask Mr Kebby Maphatsoe to retract his
accusation in 72 hours and apologise or provide incontrovertible evidence on
his accusations. Failing which, the
public protector will be left with no choice but to invoke contempt of the
public protector powers. The letter has already been sent.”
The Act that created Madonsela’s office makes provision for
criminal charges of contempt to be brought for any insult to her or her deputy,
or for actions that inhibit her ability to conduct investigations, with jail
time or a fine stipulated as punishment. Madonsela has never invoked those
powers, saying she prefers not to take matters of her office to the courts.
All the opposition parties have also protested.
Now some of you know that I concur with Professor Sampie
Terreblanche, who has been a Poverty-watcher for decades. In his book Lost in Transformation, he
tracks the linkages between the end of the Cold War and the end of
Apartheid. He makes a convincing case to
say that Mandela’s government really had little choice but to accept the path
of capitalism, but that in doing so, it took a wrong turn. The benefits have been felt by only a
minority of black people, while the majority have not enjoyed a “democracy
dividend”.
He explains how the balance of the Cold War was replaced by
a world with one super-power. He tracks
the march of capitalism into Africa and in particular South Africa, its legacy
being the triple conundrum of poverty, inequality and unemployment. Frankly, I can buy into all that he argues,
in terms of American hegemony and the rich getting richer while the gap widens
between rich and poor – without becoming anti-American. In fact, this path of capitalism was brought
to you by the ANC!
So the vice-minister’s attack is not on America or the CIA,
it is a direct hit on the office of Public Protector. In other words, he is attacking the
Constitution.
This is the clearest example yet that I have seen of
Triumphalism.
C4L has lived with the same attitudes for a decade:
·
We voiced protest over the delays in rolling out
ARVs, only to find our attempts to raise funds to build ARV clinics blocked by
SANAC at the Global Fund (Round 5). At
the time, the chair of SA’s country coordinating mechanism was Jacob Zuma
·
We raised concerns about what we called the
“Epiphany murders”. Soon the media was
calling the “January murders”. When the
17th young leader in 12 years was shot in 2011, C4L organized a
poster campaign. The slogan was simple –
17 reasons to demand transparency. No
government funding has landed at C4L since, even in cases where we have won
tenders
·
In October 2011 there was a national “whistle
blowing week”, the first and the last.
Convinced that whistle blowing is a virtue in a open society that
champions transparency, C4L confronted government over tender irregularities
related to the Community Work programme in 2012. The response was harsh – marginalization of
C4L from the CWP
Fortunately now we have a visible triumphalist singing from
this same ANC song sheet at the highest levels, in full view. To him, his party is more important than the
Constitution, because of a logic that says, the Constitution was brought to you
by the ANC.
To this triumphalist’s way of thinking, Chapter 9
institutions are not for the rule of law but rather to validate the party
line. It is a one-party-state way of
thinking. Not an open society.
He wants Thuli Madonsela to be punished. Whereas the Opposition parties, and also the
ANC’s allies in the ruling alliance – COSATU and the SACP – have all come out
in support of Thuli Madonsela standing up to Jacob Zuma over Inkandla.
To the Triumphalist, a government is subordinate to “the
party” and the checks-and-balances of Democracy are an inconvenience. Opposition parties are enemies and any
individual or NGO that questions party policies is reactionary. Innovative thinkers like the EFF are traitors. The best antidote to this pseudo-democratic
way of thinking was expressed today by the Council of Churches:
"It is with deep
dismay that we have observed the responses of the president and the African
National Congress to the report of the public protector on the Nkandla project,
and the degeneration of these responses to a personal level."
"We express our
unwavering support for the office of the public protector... and applaud her
courage and her integrity."
"We urge those
whom we supported in the days of the struggle against the evil monster of
apartheid to not disappoint us now and take us into their version of a 'monster
state' in which all are afraid to speak their mind and undertake their tasks
with courage and integrity."
"Respect the
office of the public protector and the person appointed to maintain our
integrity as a nation, and deal with those who do not."
God bless Thuli Madonsela and may God protect our Protector!
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