This was a good week for justice in South Africa. It saw the arrest of top former military leaders for their alleged role in one of the most brutal of the KwaZulu- Natal massacres of the last decade, and the demotion of that province’s safety and security MEC, Celani Mtetwa, accused of involvement in gun-running.
In recent years, the process of justice has been harmed by the fact that many of those widely believed to have been implicated in the KwaZulu-Natal violence have been promoted rather than prosecuted.
The arrests of the generals brought the first clear sign that the state can take on the far right wing and need no longer tread in fear of them and their security forces. For some time now it has been accepted by almost everyone except a few eccentrics at the South African Institute of Race Relations that elements of the military worked with a “third force” to disrupt the country’s transition. The new government was forced, for the sake of that transition, to pander to these elements. They no longer have to — and we can breathe a sigh of relief for that.
Nevertheless, the arrest of former Minister of Defence Magnus Malan, former defence force chief Kat Liebenberg and nine other security force leaders brought a good deal of righteous hand-wringing. It’s not surprising. The trial of the generals threatens to blow open the heart of the “third force”, destroying their and Deputy President FW de Klerk’s claim that the military did nothing seriously wrong during the years of apartheid.
De Klerk has suddenly realised that he and his generals are caught on a path which can only lead to the exposure of himself and many of his party leadership. They had many months in which to apply for indemnity under the De Klerk government’s law. They didn’t, believing assurances that they would be ok — and now it will be much harder to get indemnity from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. They are going to have to come clean about the past, or risk prosecution. It is that sudden realisation which accounts for this week’s shrill response.
There are those who insist that the government be even- handed in its pursuit of perpetrators of violence. This is correct, even though the point is being made cynically by many of those who have never themselves shown a commitment to even-handed justice. But this surely cannot mean that those responsible for a massacre which killed 13 people, including six children, should go free? That’s foolishness, not fairness.
It was De Klerk’s government which gave attorneys- general total independence and lept to the defence of KwaZulu-Natal AG Tim McNally when he was criticised. Now McNally has said the evidence was such that he had to prosecute the generals. De Klerk must now respect McNally’s independence and not encourage President Mandela to interfere. It would be undemocratic for politicians to interfere with the criminal justice system.
Some argue that the arrests harm the reconciliation process. They may; but they may also encourage security force members to come forward and speak their hearts at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission — and that would assist in dealing with the past. Would these generals come forward voluntarily to tell us about the past if they were not prosecuted?
The generals themselves argue that if they are charged, so should the politicians who gave them the orders to take the gloves off in their fights against the ANC. They are quite right, even though this could implicate FW de Klerk, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Hernus Kriel, Pik Botha and other senior members of the Government of National Unity.
With this trial, the spotlight has moved for the first time from the footsoldiers to the military leaders, and it is hovering near the political leaders. And so it should.