It was obvious, from the early stages of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, that it had no hope of uncovering the “whole truth” of the apartheid era. The best that could be expected was some kind of broadly representative truth. But this week’s release of the criminal indictment against Wouter Basson reminds us that there are some dark recesses of South Africa’s more recent history which remain unexplored, most notably those activities relating to the chemical and biological weapons programme.
Desmond Tutu’s admirable inquiry did, of course, try to stage hearings on the programme. But, with the help of the long- running conspiracy of silence on the part of the military, legalistic filibustering by Basson himself and what can only be described as a psych-ops operation directed against the truth commission by intelligence agencies, the hearing developed into something approaching farce.
It did so most memorably with the pathetic performance of the former police forensic chief, General Lothar Neethling, as he told of efforts to produce racially minded bacteria and a riot- control gas, brewed with hallucinogens including marijuana, designed to persuade mobs to make love, not war.
The hearings certainly failed to encompass the acts of cold-blooded mass murder outlined in this week’s indictment – such as experiments with poison on Swapo prisoners of war in Namibia who were allegedly suffocated to death with the help of chemicals.
And even the charges contained in that indictment fall well short, we suspect, of the full catalogue of horrors to which such as Basson was privy. There has still been no disclosure, for instance, on chemical or biological experiments which we believe were carried out by South African police backing Ian Smith’s forces during the Rhodesian bush war. By one account South African police “researchers” then carried out murderous experiments on passers-by picked up at random in Zimbabwe’s townships.
If there is any truth to such claims, the Bassons of the old South African Defence Force are directly comparable to the Mengeles of World War II concentration camps and, perhaps more importantly, the political bosses of our past deserve classification, pursuit and prosecution along with the Nazis.
In the week that Nato has bombed Serbia and General Augusto Pinochet has had his extradition confirmed by the House of Lords – all in the name of human rights – it would also be unconscionable for the inquiry into the chemical and biological weapons programme to be blocked or in any way handicapped by the non- proliferation argument used by our government in the past.
There might be a reluctance among some sectors of our society to face up to such truths. “Haven’t we gazed for long enough into the cesspit of our past?” they might argue.
The answer is a flat “no”; not until we have are confident we have plumbed its depths, as is demanded by our future.
Unbalanced scales
It used to be that it was a bigger crime to steal money than take a black life. Two judgements this week – in which the guilty parties have both been characterised as victimising black children – might lead one to think not much has changed.
The killer of a six-month-old child walked from court with a suspended sentence. A thief faces six years in jail for stealing donor money intended to help the victims of apartheid.
The magistrate who gave Nicholas Steyn a five- year suspended sentence on the grounds the farmer had not intended to injure the dead child has missed the point. It should be a serious crime to terrorise children with a gun, let alone fire anywhere in their vicinity.
The veritable acquittal of Steyn for killing six-month-old Angelina Zwane, also emphasises the judiciary’s lax attitude to the wilful and negligent use of firearms. It is very hard to see what danger an infant on the back of an eleven-year-old child could have posed to Steyn.
No wonder the minister of justice has said he wants to overhaul the judicial system in an attempt to give the country judges who may have some empathy with the lives of the majority of the population. Children, especially those in rural areas, have always crossed land in search of shortcuts, carrying water or food, getting home from school or even playing. Often they are unknowing of the implications of their crime of trespass. For such a crime no parent should lose a child.
Once again, an officer of the law has brought the system of justice into disrepute among ordinary people.
Occurring on the same day, it was only natural that the Steyn and Allan Boesak sentences would be starkly compared. And that is part of the tragedy.
It is good for the reputation of the system of justice that such a senior figure within the circles of the elite could eventually have his day in court and be held accountable for his crimes. But the scales of justice would appear more balanced if Steyn were not allowed to walk out of court a free man.
Zwane’s mother still works for the family of her child’s killer. She says justice has failed her, but actually it has failed us all as yet again the criminal justice system demonstrated blindness to its responsibilities to our society.