So, at last the deal is done. For many — and not just supporters of Jacob Zuma — it will be a relief that the National Prosecuting Authority has decided to drop the charges against the man who will soon be president. A great exhalation for a country that has been holding its breath too long. We are sighing too, but for very different reasons.
This is a shameful day.
A deal stitched up in secrecy, amid a welter of as-yet-untested allegations, is the antithesis of our most basic principles. We agreed 15 years ago what kind of country we wanted to live in. There may have been room for interpretation of the details but on one thing we can be quite clear: this is not it.
Indeed, we know only the outlines of the representations made by Zuma’s legal team to acting NPA boss Mokotedi Mpshe thanks to leaks and spin. It seems the NPA has been given credible evidence that Leonard McCarthy, the former Scorpions boss who was in charge of the investigation, was driven by his loyalty to former president Thabo Mbeki. It seems clear too that he lied to colleagues and abused his office.
If those allegations are borne out they will show just how deeply the institutions of the state have been compromised by the internecine warfare of the ANC.
Our response must not be — cannot be — to wish away this overÂwhelming and perhaps destabilising reality. Many will suggest that we should; that South Africa cannot withstand an accounting of what has been done by our leaders in the arms deal, in the battle to succeed Mbeki and in the prosecution of Zuma.
They are wrong.
Nothing could be more destabilising than a solution that leaves us without answers, living with both Mbeki’s tainted legacy and Zuma’s compromised rule. Nothing could be more destabilising than the thorough collapse of the rule of law that this decision represents.
That does not mean Zuma should be found guilty. It means that the evidence against him and against the NPA must be tested in court, the most painful details put in front of the entire country, not just Willie Hofmeyr and Mpshe. We simply cannot afford anything less.
There must be consequences, too, for the security agencies that have turned their energies so readily to fighting party battles. An investigation into alleged abuses by the NPA, and McCarthy in particular, must be undertaken, and conducted thoroughly. It must be matched by an equally thorough investigation into how evidence collected by the National Intelligence Agency and crime intelligence found its way into Zuma’s hands.
Charges, if warranted, should follow. And if Mbeki is implicated either in arms deal corruption or manipulation of the Zuma prosecution he must be investigated too.
We can handle it. After all, we defeated apartheid.
In the short term civil society, political parties and concerned individuals must act to prevent this travesty. The decision to drop charges must be scrutinised rigorously and openly, using all the legislative and constitutional instruments at our disposal. That can only happen by way of a judicial review — ladies and gentlemen, draft your papers.
Prophylaxis is needed
Did you fall ill, or have a serious accident last week? Were you admitted to one of Gauteng’s public hospitals? If so, you may consider yourself lucky to be alive.
South Africa’s richest province can’t pay its suppliers and as a result food, drugs and critical equipment are unavailable across its health system.
People who depend for their medical care on Premier Paul Mashatile’s administration may be thinking of moving to another province but the implications for the rest of the country are just as disturbing.
As we’ve reported in the past fortnight Gauteng’s bank account is empty and hundreds of contractors who were giving effect to government’s promise of a better life for all were forced to stop work.
Some had to close shop and retrench staff when they went unpaid.
After initially denying a crisis Mashatile and his cabinet eventually confirmed the dire situation and promised to remedy it. But they were quick to add: we are the biggest province. We are the richest province. People want to stay here. We can’t keep them out!
We can’t keep up, they might have added, but that is an evasion.
It is impossible to separate the causes of the crisis in Gauteng from what this and other newspapers have been reporting on for years: that the people who run the province have their priorities seriously mixed up.
Mashatile has been involved in a number of controversies concerning his links to big business and love for all things flashy (remember the R96 000 restaurant tab?). Former premier Mbhazima Shilowa has been making wine and the health department is spending millions on unnecessary consultants. It sometimes looks as if the province is run as a piggy bank for crony capitalists rather than a delivery machine for citizens.
Gauteng is surely not the only province experiencing serious challenges with service delivery and management of the public purse, but if the country’s centre of gravity, with its dense concentration of media, political opposition and civil society can slip into such a parlous state we shudder to think what is happening in poorer, more distant places.
A new ANC government will no doubt be formed soon — it had better ensure it provides some prophylaxis before the whole country ends up in critical care.