Publication: Business Day
Issued:
Date: 2008-04-17
Reporter: Phumzile Kotane
| Publication |
Business Day
|
| Date |
2008-04-17 |
|
Reporter |
Phumzile Kotane |
|
Web Link |
www.bday.co.za |
For all its many and varied flaws, the African
National Congress (ANC) under Jacob Zuma is an improvement on the party under
President Thabo Mbeki in one key area: communication. One may not agree with all
the policy positions that have been taken since the Polokwane revolution, but
they are at least articulated in a manner that an ordinary mortal can
understand. And there is generally a greater willingness to engage in debate
that addresses the issues at stake.
The ruling party makes more sense than the government these days on any number
of matters, from the seriousness of the political crisis in Zimbabwe to the
official response to HIV/AIDS and the way forward for black economic
empowerment. The obfuscation and pseudo-intellectual
waffle the country was expected to swallow during the party's Mbeki era
has largely been replaced with a more open-minded and pragmatic approach, albeit
one that frequently flirts with populism.
The glaring exception to this is the ANC's post-Polokwane obsession with
eradicating the Directorate of Special Operations, the National Prosecuting
Authority's investigative unit more commonly known as the Scorpions.
Almost every member of the ANC's new national working committee
has had a bash at explaining why they believe the
Scorpions have to go, but none has yet managed to string
together a rational motivation that can withstand reasoned argument in
favour of the unit's retention.
In fact, it was clear to many political analysts that there was a belated
scramble in the weeks after the resolution demanding the Scorpions' demise was
adopted at Polokwane, to come up with some sort of justification the public
might buy. We've heard that the unit costs too much, that it isn't nearly as
effective as it's made out to be, that it violates the principle of separation
of powers, that it cherry-picks its cases, that it outsources too many
functions, that it has been used to settle political scores, and is an obstacle
to a united response by the various organs that fight different types of crime.
Each of these has either been shown to be plain wrong or an exaggeration, or an
alternative means of resolving the problem has been proposed that would not
demand that the baby be thrown out with the bath water. But when it comes to the
Scorpions, the ANC refuses to listen to logic.
Now, at last, we know why. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe's emotional
outburst following his meeting with the leader of the opposition on Tuesday
confirmed what many have long suspected that the party's antipathy towards the
Scorpions is purely political. The unit has been
"infiltrated" by former apartheid operatives who "hate the ANC", Mantashe says,
ignoring the fact that each and every member of the Scorpions has been granted
security clearance by organs of the state controlled by the ANC itself.
The truth involves rather less conspiracy and more simple political expedience
the unit has pursued ANC heroes the current
leadership considers to be above the law, and for
that it cannot be forgiven. The Scorpions will be destroyed, whatever the cost
to the country, because for a disturbingly high number of ANC supporters
the party comes first *1.
Whether the individuals concerned are actually guilty of the serious crimes the
Scorpions accuses them of is irrelevant to them.
Phumzile Kotane
Communications Manager: Gauteng
pkotane@npa.gov.za
012 845 6141
With acknowledgements to Phumzile Kotane
and Business
Day.
*1 These are sick and dangerous
people.
They certainly should have no part in public office - for their interests are
almost completely private.
Their only "public" interest is getting hold of the public purse - but then
again, that's private.
Yet the ANC voting fodder just take it - just like animals
on the farm.
At least 50,2 percent of the voters in Zimbabwe could not take it any longer -
but it took most of them 28 years to learn.
At least my editor can't send me back out to lunch.