Publication: City Press Issued: Date: 2005-10-22 Reporter: Khathu Mamaila

Careful with Whites, Hlophe

 

Publication 

City Press

Date

2005-10-22

Reporter

 Khathu Mamaila
Third Eye

Web Link

www.news24.com

 

Judge John Hlophe must learn to leave white people alone. Otherwise, if he continues accusing them of racism, he will sign his death warrant. He will lose his job.

He must look around. President Thabo Mbeki was the darling of white liberals until he spoke of South Africa as a country of two nations. One rich and white and the other poor and black. It was not rocket science. Anybody can see. Blacks seem to have exclusive rights to occupy shacks. Whites on the other hand, who are a minority, own more than 90 percent of the wealth in the country.

Mbeki's sin? He spoke the unpalatable truth. And for that he earned the wrath of liberals. He was accused of liquidating reconciliation that Nelson Mandela had cemented.

History is littered with other examples. Idi Amin Dada was a ruthless dictator who butchered thousands of Ugandans. He conducted his reign of terror with impunity and the west never lifted a finger. He made one blunder when he killed a white man and that was the beginning of his demise.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was the darling of the west until he targeted white farmers. Today he is fighting for survival. Swazi King Mswati III is an absolute monarch who abuses state funds to finance his insatiable appetite for luxury while his people wallow in poverty. But he is guaranteed to stay in power for as long he stays away from white people.

Hlophe was a respected and admired judge until late last year when he compiled a report on racism in the Cape Bar. And since then, as Hlophe has openly admitted, he has been on the receiving end.

According to Hlophe, allegations of racism that were levelled against him were false claims designed to undermine his integrity and deflect the racism issues that he had raised. A situation was being created that would make it impossible for him to remain as judge president of the Cape.

According to reports, a senior counsel, Dirk Uijs, made a sworn affidavit confirming that Hlophe had made a racist remark against a local white attorney, describing him as a piece of "white sh*** who should go back to Holland".

This is a serious charge. And rightly, we were told that the matter would recieve attention from the high office of Chief Justice Pius Langa. We waited with bated breath for the outcome of Langa's investigation.

The outcome of the investigation was an anti-climax. In the tradition of this country, pioneered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Langa opted for peace and not justice. He chose reconciliation at the expense of justice and the truth.

He said the complaint against Hlophe had been withdrawn and that there was no complaint to investigate. Really?

This conclusion is a travesty of justice. If there was no basis of the allegations against Hlophe, justice demands that those who made these false allegations must be exposed and be dealt with. It is completely unacceptable to have made these allegations and withdraw them when called upon to back them up.

On the other hand, if Hlophe had made these remarks, he should be dealt with in accordance with the law.

However, the manner in which the matter has been resolved does not only serve to tarnish the image of the accusers and the accused but also deals a severe blow to the credibility of the judiciary. Already, those found to be on the wrong side of the law are spreading the false gospel that judiciary is infested with racists whose mission is to target heroes of the struggle. Failure to deal decisively with allegations of racism on the bench does not help to dismiss those bent on undermining the rule of law.

Langa acted with speed to probe allegations against Hlophe, although the outcome was a disaster. However, the question remains - why did the final report into the allegations of racism in the judiciary made by Hlophe take so long?

In the absence of the equal amounts of zest and vigour displayed when Hlophe was an accused, the conclusion that can be made is that the probe against him became urgent because the alleged victim was white.

With ackowledgements to Khathu Mamaila and City Press.


Apart from being an excellent one, this article probably wins the Pulitzer Prize for the most non sequiturs since the advent of writing.