EARLIER this week General Magnus Malan gave a briefing to the Foreign Correspondents Association, devoted to his forthcoming trial on murder charges. He did so in defiance of advice from his lawyers who, he related, were concerned that he might be in breach of the sub judice rule.
Rare as it is for this newspaper to be nice to National Party politicians, we offer our congratulations to the general. The sub judice rule is a device behind which politicians all too often take pious refuge in order to escape the demands of pubic accountability.
During question time the general was asked when South African military assistance for Renamo ended. He said it stopped when the Nkomati Accord was signed. Challenged afterwards by a journalist — who pointed out that the continuation of support for Renamo long after Nkomati was a matter of record — Malan said he had “forgotten” and it was, after all, a long time ago.
At another stage the general reminded his audience that he had applied for amnesty for crimes committed during the apartheid era. The problem with the application, he explained, was that “I did not know what a crime is”. He had, therefore, submitted the application without specifying the crimes for which he was claiming amnesty, as a means of saying to the government that “if there was a crime I’ll take the responsibility”.
These two comments offer much justification for the truth and reconciliation process which has been so bitterly criticised by the old guard, of which the general is a representative. The ignorance of a man who had command of some 100 000 troops in his time — not to mention a collective finger on the nuclear button — as to what constitutes a crime is alarming. Fortunately, we do have the judicial process to help him discover the answers; his course in “civics” starts in the Durban Magistrate’s Court today. We can only regret that it has come at such a late stage in a long and destructive career.
As for the general’s forgetfulness; collective amnesia is a blight which is afflicting many in (or lately out of) the security forces. As it happens there is a body of people only too happy to help them recover their memories: The victims of atrocities and their families. It is a process which will be facilitated by the truth commission, the proceedings of which will no doubt be punctuated by many a joyful cry of “Oh yes ! … that’s right … I remember now …” Hopefully the commission will find time to supply Malan with a copy of the Gorongoza documents.
There were other points made in the general’s briefing which need be taken more seriously than his confessions of ignorance and forgetfulness. Inevitably he made much of what he termed the inequalities in treatment before the law of old political and military foes. Referring, of course, to Shell House, he said: “We are charged with a deed, that happened in the past, where we plead our ignorance. Against this the African National Congress admitted publicly that last year when peace prevailed they issued orders to defend their political headquarters with rifle fire against what they thought could be an attack on their building. The result — demonstrators were killed in cold blood by the ANC. No legal action has been taken in this case. The process of justice has been
Leaving aside the contradiction (the ANC opened fire in self-defence and yet killed “in cold blood”) the parallel is specious and the assertions questionable. The investigation of criminal charges arising from Shell House is proceeding; or so police assure us. And the ANC — however tardy its help with police inquiries — is not demanding the investigation be dropped. Above all Nelson Mandela is not threatening social “turmoil” and communal “backlashes” if the judicial process continues. But of course such niceties are likely ignored in Malan’s constituency where cries along the lines of “What about Shell House?” are no doubt compelling.
One of the dangers of the truth commission — which must be overcome if it is to achieve its stated objective of reconciliation — is that it is surrounded by confusion. Dullah Omar and his legal draftsmen may have a clear idea of the principles at work behind the various bits of legislation, but the country as a whole does not. If Malan needs educating, so does the public.