*PROSECUTION SHOULD NEVER COST US MORE THAN THE ALLEGED CRIME - AND DO IT FOR THE RIGHT REASONS *
Of course, nobody, regardless of their station in society should be immune from prosecution and on this score Floyd Shivambu is dead right. But his assertions in the Mail&Guardian (30-03-12) miss the plot altogether. It is only a fool’s errand to spend millions searching the cave of a man who is accused of hiding in it only five hundred thousand while by so doing letting others run away with millions of rands, even worse if such search and seizure is already limping, prima facie but unwinnable, thus neither ameliorating let alone curb the success of corrupt activity but rather propelling it to success. Even the proverbial chap in a bar, having dipped rather generously on holy water, would still realize the absurdity of such an endeavor The prosecution of those who looted state resources through the arms deal seem to matter less with our dramatis persona. Letting his actual intentions slip, he co-relates the prosecution of President Zuma with the ANC Mangaung leadership debate. These are two different matters whose only relationship can be produced by a yearning to settle political scores rather than one to address corruption. If the Mbeki years taught us anything, do not just take the self-proclaimed fight against corruption at face value, it might have more to do with influencing the mood of a conference as the “gossip” between Leonard McCarthy and Bulelani Ngcuka exposed. Any citizenry worth its salt will never allow its obvious distaste for corruption to be abused by an ilk with no interest of fighting corruption but one of delivering a blow against one another, regardless of the cost to the public purse. Rather than argue for the opening of one case whose pursuance has already cost the taxpayer dearly comrade Shivambu should be arguing for the expansion of the terms of reference of the arms deal probe with the intention to increasing its sting ensuring that the big fish are not let of the hook. That is something worth pulling state resources towards. Although no holy bible whose every word should be imbibed as the views of the lord the Freedom Charter, quoted by Floyd Shivambu does counsel against the institution of criminal proceedings with no intention except to exert “vengeance”, I suppose he did not read this part or did not realize its actual meaning. Bourgeois democratic states are complex and dynamic and require an equal level of dynamism to understand them. Reductionist concepts that have the illusion that those at the head of government are thus at the head of the state are not only unscientific but have been proven incorrect as late as pre-Polokwane when the head of state could not secure the loyalty of some sections in the intelligence cluster. Thus Shivambu’s major thesis that Zuma ought to be prosecuted now because he is at the helm of government and as a result will have a fair trial is rather weak and ill-founded. The South African criminal justice system alone is complex, the notion that one’s station at the head of the state as in automatic guarantee to soft treatment is rather bald. Of course, this does not suggest that indeed President Zuma is in a better position than he was pre-Polokwane but the fact of the matter is that it is a rather melodramatic to present him as holding the state by the clutch of his hand as though it were a loaf of bread. I share Shivambu’s insistence that no citizen should be browbeaten into compliance by those on high abusing state power, but at the same time, no citizen should be blackmailed with the threat of public humiliation if he no longer kowtows to the interests of those who once favored him for a second term, knowing full well that there were charges dropped against him, on the basis of “gossip” by state employees. I now actually believe that the greatest threat to our budding bourgeois democracy not only comes from the quarters of those who seek to accumulate with brazen impunity but also from anti-tribalism tribalism (tribalism that presents itself as fighting tribalism, when actually fomenting it). *Lazola Ndamase is a member of the ANC & SACP Ntlangano branches* -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
