By Carl Mpangazitha Niehaus*
Justic delayed is justice denied
On the 7th of July 2021 it was exactly a year ago when, on that fateful and cold winter’s night, President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, left his residence of Nkandla and drove to the Estcourt prison to hand himself over to start serving a 15 month prison sentence that was illegally imposed on him by the Constitutional Court (CC). When talking about the ills of our courts, and the legal system in South Africa in general, the importance of that watershed event in the short 28-year history of a democratic South Africa, should never be underestimated.
This event was also the spark that ignited the powder keg of deferred economic empowerment hopes of our people, so tragically manifested in the deepening levels of poverty, unemployment and literal starving of an ever growing number of South Africans, who are overwhelmingly black, and mainly African.
The illegal, draconian, sentence that was without a proper court case – only through an administrative procedure – in indecent haste, imposed on President Zuma by the Constitutional Court, in the eyes of many long suffering South Africans literally snuffed out the beacon and torch of hope that for many black South Africans President Zuma continued representing.
With that vicious, and ill-considered, illegal act the judgement of the Constitutional Court (CC), as it was delivered in aggressive and poorly articulated legalize by the then Acting Chief Justice, Justice Sissy Kampepe, tragically destroyed the hopes of millions of South Africans that realized if this is how an icon of our liberation struggle can be maltreated, deliberately targeted and humiliated, by the so-called constitutional democracy that they vested their hopes and dreams in for a better future, they stand hardly any chance of seeing those hopes actualized. This realization underpinned the desperate popular uprising that resulted.
There was no planned and coordinated instigation of violence, and all ill-considered and malicious attempts by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and some of his acolytes, to try and find such a scape goat, and even to try and describe it as ‘ethnic mobilization’, failed dismally, and in the subsequent enquiry and findings about the July uprising, stood exposed as propaganda lies by those who were unsuccessfully trying to escape their own culpability for their short sighted and ill-considered, and illegal, actions.
Those among us who warned, over and over again, that the illegal imprisonment of President Zuma would result in dire consequences for our nation – and that one does not play around with matches in a proverbial dynamite factory – were instead of being acknowledged for the correctness of our warnings, maligned and accused of being the instigators of violence. Many of us suffered terrible Stratcom-like propaganda abuse, and there are those among us who were even illegally arrested and imprisoned, and the most farcical of court cases were instituted and pursued against us.
We continue to mourn the deaths of so many of our fellow South African brothers and sisters, who were killed while the State was either directly involved, or turned a blind eye to the blatant racist attacks on them. The Phoenix massacre stands as a terrible reminder of the callousness of the State, and personally of President Ramaphosa, who never paid a single visit to any of the families of the victims, nor even from a distance expressed his condolences and sympathy.
However, all of this further abuse and the travesties of justice, no matter how hard the already compromised and largely captured law enforcement agencies and courts tried, could not cover up the harsh reality that the manner in which the Constitutional Court treated President Zuma was, and continues to be, a monumental act of injustice and legal abuse.
In the wake of it the continuing legal capture and abuse that led to the July uprising last year, in a general societal environment of poverty and deprivation, contains in itself the ominous specter of even worse to come, if our government and justice system is not able to acknowledge this and to self-correct.
In stating this obvious fact, for all who have eyes and ears to hear and see, let it be understood that to state such is not an act of instigation, it is prophecy and truth telling born out of deep and genuine concern for the well-being of our nation.
Any hope for our nation to be saved from even worse pain and violence, than what followed in the wake of the illegal imprisonment of President Zuma, must be based on the acknowledgement of this singular truth. Those who willfully refuse to accept this are the enemies of our people, and will continue to drag us over the precipice into an ever deepening abyss of untold suffering and national destruction.
It is in recognition of this reality that it is so critically important that we as a nation must remember what happened last year on the 7th of July, and in the days and weeks that followed after that fateful day. That is why throughout our country there are those of us, as truly concerned and justice minded South Africans, who held events to commemorate that day, and in doing so are raising the red flags of warning that if we continue along the downward spiral of injustice, judicial abuse and the capturing of our legal system for selective justice and factional political purposes – and sometimes plain mafia-like corruption – much worse in terms of the eruption of desperate violence and outrage by the abused and exploited citizens of our nation, are likely to follow.
We plead that the message that we are delivering should be heeded, and we are calling on the media in our country to – for once to act in a professional and patriotic manner – and convey these dire warnings, without allowing themselves to continue to be the propaganda tools of their White Monopoly Capital (WMC) owners, and their interests. Failure to understand and heed the warning message that we are conveying, can lead to a fate befalling all of us in this beloved nation of ours that will truly be too ghastly to contemplate.
It is within the context of this critical and broad backdrop that I have decided to not only remind, and confront ourselves and our whole South African nation, with the legal abuse and injustice that President Zuma’s ongoing incarceration – albeit in the somewhat ameliorated/‘softened’ manifestation of medical parole – continues to represent, but that I also present in this opinion piece examples of how the rot that has permeated our whole legal system, and on a daily basis abuses ordinary South Africans of all wakes of society, and turn us into victims of wanton and gross injustice.
There is an old Turkish saying, that a fish rots from the head, and this is true also for our legal system, and how it manifests itself in the daily practices of our courts. The evident corruption and abuse that entered the highest echelons of our justice system – as manifested in the blatant injustice served on President Zuma by our Constitutional Court (CC), as well as an array of politically motivated, targeted and selective prosecutions, as most prominently represented in the prosecution of the Secretary General (SG) of the African National Congress, comrade Ace Magashule, on the flimsiest of so-called ‘oversight’ charges, as well as the trumped charges that have been brought against comrades Bongani Bongo, Zandile Gumede, and others – are replicated in many different manifestations, and served on long suffering South Africans, throughout our legal system.
One of the most recent examples was the illegal arrest and malicious prosecution of myself, on trumped up COVID-19 charges. While it was evident for all to see that there was no case, the matter was dragged out in our courts for a year. The final Section 174 Criminal Procedures Act dismissal of the case by the magistrate was instructive in as far as the magistrate emphasized that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had absolutely no case, and pointed out that my high profile arrest, while conducting a live interview on national television, took place on the same day and at the same venue where earlier the Minister of Justice, Mr. Ronald Lamola, addressed a crowd in front of the Estcourt Prison, and no action whatsoever was taken against him, or any of those gathered there.
We also should not forget the trumped up charges that were brought on the flimsiest of pretexts against comrade Bongani Bongo, and which was dismissed out of hand by the Judge President of the Western Cape High Court, Mr. Justice John Hlope.
It is also important to note how the so-called ‘oversight’ case against comrade Ace Magashule is dragging on, and the statement that he made in person to the Bloemfontein High Court during his last court appearance, to the effect that the matter is deliberately dragged out in order to prevent him from being able to contest for any leadership position in the upcoming 55th National Conference of the ANC, that is due in December this year.
Recently evidence came to the fore of the specific targeting of Mr. Johan Roodt who filed detailed cases against a number of legal officers with the regards to the issuing of fraudulent judicial orders/judgements, and Mr. Justin Lewis of the UK who is the process of having filed a multi-billion fraud and corruption case against the South African authorities on the basis of fraudulent local and international court orders.
These matters were the subject of a three and a half hours long Twitter Spaces engagement on my #InMyCrossHairs Twitter platform with the gentlemen in question, and readers are urged to listen to the recording of that conversation/engagement, that is still readily available. Here is the link to the Twitter Spaces recording as it was simulcasted on my #InMyCrosshairs YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/YmIpE4ZSPS0. Both Mr. Roodt and Mr. Lewis, have extensively gone on record about the very serious matters of corruption that they have raised against the legal system in South Africa, and their collusion with large South African and international companies.
Another example is Ms. Mendiswa Mzamane, who has been at the receiving end of the blatant refusal by our courts to address the very serious criminal charges that she brought against government officials, and about the conduct of law firms that are victimizing her. These matters were all brought to the attention of Members of Parliament, but up to this day she has been the victim of delay after delay.
There are numerous other instances of cases being delayed to be heard by our courts for inordinate periods of time. So for example Mr. Tshepo Kgadima has brought a matter against PetroSA, that has now been dragging on for over 7 years, with him consistently being frustrated from being able to get the matter heard by our courts. He similarly has matters that are many years old against the former Times Media limited, and the late Minister Zola Skweyiya, which just drags on indefinitely without being able to bring them to conclusion in court.
The NPO, Democracy In Action (DIA), is in the process of compiling information about court cases that are taking inordinate amounts to time to be heard by our courts, or even fail to be placed on our court rolls at all.
There are persistent allegations that the enrollment of court cases are for sale by officers of courts, and if a court matter is to be enrolled speedily that bribes are to be paid. These allegations are currently the subject of further investigation. While I want to avoid making specific allegations at this stage until investigations are firmed up, I urge our investigative journalists to also do their own investigations regarding this serious issue. There can hardly be a more disconcerting situation than that even the administration of our courts have now fallen victim to corruption, and that the courts that ordinarily should be the last resort of citizens to fight corruption, are corrupt themselves.
Four years ago members of the Gauteng RET President Zuma Support Group, of whom I am a member, brought a defamation case against the Minister of Justice, Mr. Ronald Lamola. Mr. Lamola made a blatant and categorical statement that we had stolen government money. This statement was widely broadcasted on both television and radio throughout the country. As the executive of the Gauteng RET President Zuma Support Group we immediately filed defamation charges against Minister Lamola. Our attorney of instruction for that matter is Mr. Daniel Mantsha. Despite concerted efforts to get the matter placed on the court roll of the Gauteng South High Court, four years later, this has not yet happened.
As complainants we are of the firm opinion that there is a direct relationship between our inability to get the matter enrolled, and the fact that the defendant in the matter is the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services. We have now in desperation resolved to bring the matter of this ridiculously long dragged out defamation case as a complaint to the Judicial Services Council (JSC). Evidently the Johannesburg South High Court, and the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, have a serious case to answer.
There are three other matters that I have direct experience about. The most disconcerting of these relate to the charges of fraud, theft and embezzlement that myself and another ANC employee, comrade McDonald Mathabe, brought almost a year ago against the senior management and National Office Bearers (NOB’s) of the ANC. These charges relate to the fraudulent deduction of UIF, PAYE and other deductions such as medical aid deductions, from the salaries of ANC employees, without such monies having been paid over the relevant institutions. At the time when these charges were laid it received considerable attention from the media, but almost a year later the matter is still under investigation by the commercial crimes division, without any discernible progress in charging the accused.
The Head of Human Resources of the ANC, Ms. Elizabeth Tuanyane, had been subpoenaed to provide the required information, but with an apparent sense of impunity she, and the rest of the ANC officials, have simply refused to responded to the subpoena. Almost a year later the investigating officer in this case is now in the process of applying for a warrant of arrest to be issued against her.
The serious question arises why ANC officials seem to think that they are above the law and can ignore and obstruct law enforcement officers, and have a sense of impunity that they can ignore, and fail to comply with court orders.
The other two matters relate to a defamation law suit for R 8 million that I brought against Minister Fikile Mbalula who have, entirely without substance and falsely, accused him on the BBC actuality program Hard Talk of having been a “ring leader” and instigator of the July uprisings. This matter has also been dragging on for an inordinate period of time, and urgent steps are now being taken to try to expedite it. Mr. Andries Nkome, of the law firm Nkome Incorporated is the instructed attorney in this matter.
Finally there is also the matter of my illegal dismissal by the ANC from their employ, because I blew the whistle on the PAYE and UIF corruption, already referred to in the earlier. Almost a year after I was illegally fired I am still battling to get the matter onto the Labour Court roll, and recently the Labour Court indicated that the matter will not be heard for at least another 18 months!
All of the above matters are indicative of a legal system that is dysfunctional and corrupt. These examples only scratch the surface, there are many more. The saying that justice delayed, is justice denied, is fully applicable.
What is even more disconcerting is that these delays in our courts often seem to be by design, and targeted at specific persons and specific cases.
We simply cannot forget the indecent rush with which President Zuma was arraigned before the Constitutional Court (CC) on the insistence of the Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, Justice Raymond Zondo, (who was at the time also the Acting Chief Justice), although President Zuma still had an appeal serving before the High Court against the refusal of Mr. Justice Zondo recuse himself from presiding over the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, while he gives evidence.
Nor can we forget how quickly the General Secretary of the ANC, comrade Ace Magashule, and comrades Bongani Bongo and Zandile Gumede were charged – to the point that the NPA did not even have the dockets ready for prosecution at all, but still proceeded to rush ahead with charging them, subsequently resulting in lengthy pre-trial procedures and one court postponement after the other.
It is impossible not to notice the contrast between lengthy court delays on the one hand, and rushed prosecutions on the other. It is also impossible not to notice that these inordinate discrepancies directly relate to what serves the interests of those who are politically in control of the State, and thus also have their hands on the levers of power of the law enforcement agencies.
It is now more than a month after Mr. Arthur Fraser laid detailed and factually substantiated charges, with corroborating evidence, against President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Rosebank Police station. Yet, there is no indication, whatsoever, that the SAPS and the NPA are giving this very serious matter the urgency and priority that it deserves.
Instead even the inquiry by the Deputy Public Protector, advocate Kholeka Gcaleka, had been delayed in the most extraordinary manner, after the Public Protector, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane had been suspended only one day after she had written to President Ramaphosa with 32 incisive questions, regarding the Phala Phala farm saga.
There are no coincidences in life, and certainly not in politics and the administration of justice.
These glaring discrepancies in the administration of justice, and the dismal failure of our justice system and courts to expeditiously and even-handedly deliver justice, indicate that our justice system is increasingly being abused for factional political purposes and corrupt – mafia style – power plays.
Evidently the blindfold of Lady Justice has been removed, and she now has eyes that selective either ignore or target who, those who are in control of political power, want to be targeted or given a free ride. Such selective justice is not justice at all – at its core it is the corrupt abuse of power!
I started this opinion piece by referring to the glaring injustice that was so blatantly meted out against President Jacob Zuma, and the dire consequences that it had for our whole nation. From the few examples that I have provided, which only touches the surface of the deep rot and political power grabbing capture of our legal system and the increasing malfunctioning of our courts, it is evident that this ubiquitous situation is now experienced everywhere with regards to the administration of justice. The seriousness of this situation can not be overstated. Nor can its consequences – not only for the administration of justice – but for the future stability of our nation, be underestimated.
As there are those of us, like myself, who warned a year ago that the continuation of this kind of blatant power grab, and abuse, will have dire consequences – and we were proved to be absolutely correct when the July uprisings resulted; now have a duty as concerned citizens to warn again that the deepening abuse, dictatorial conduct and growing injustice in our country, will have even more dire consequences.
We certainly do not want this to be the case at all, and thus it is our duty as loyal and concerned citizen to point out that the continuing administration of selective justice – which is nothing less than the fundamental corruption of justice – must come to an end.
As a bare minimum, to prevent this situation from deteriorating further and God forbid even become irreversible, we must insist that law enforcement agencies must demonstrate to us that they are prepared to grasp the nettle and now proceed to charge President Ramaphosa for the very serious, and detailed, charges that have been brought against him, and those that he instructed to act on his behalf, with regards to the Phala Phala farm criminal case.
Nothing less will suffice!
*Ambassador Carl Niehaus is an ANC veteran of 42 years of uninterrupted ANC membership. He is a former member of the ANC NEC, and former SA ambassador to The Netherlands. He is an NEC member and National Spokesperson of MKMVA. Ambassador Niehaus was given the Zulu warrior name of ‘Mpangazitha’ by the Executive Council of the Injeje yabeNGUNI Council in recognition of his dedication in fighting against the enemies of the people of South Africa.
