Undermining the foundations of democracy

I'm hopping mad.

Zacob Zuma, the man who is likely to be South Africa's next president, is in court today, to try and ward off a corruption case against him. It's the latest in a long series of court appearances, as Zuma's lawyers try every tactic to avoid or postpone his corruption trial.

That's not why I'm mad. I'm mad about the stance that Zuma's party, the ANC, is taking on the case. The front page headline on Business Day today, one of the biggest dailies here, is "ANC fears 'mobilisation' of judges against Zuma"
(see www.businessday.co.za/articles/frontpage.aspx?ID=BD4A815022).

The Argus, Cape Town's afternoon paper, carries the headline, "Zuma slips into court", with a sub heading, "Trial smacks of apartheid, charges ANC." The article carries a quote from the ANC's spokersperson, saying "this trial smacks of apartheid... when if you told a story often enough, it became fact."

The statement that this trial smacks of apartheid is laughable. This is 14 years after the end of apartheid. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is an institution of the new South Africa, staffed with professionals from all racial and ethnic groups. There may be some old, apartheid-era judges left on the benches, but the judiciary has been dramatically transformed since 1994 -- most of our top judges are black, many are women, and many of them have a solid record of involvement in the struggle against apartheid.

Furthermore, the assertion that the case amounts to nothing more than the repetition of a fabrication, is blatant nonsense. Zuma has already been shown to be corrupt. Because this happened during the trial of somebody else -- Schabir Shaik -- Zuma and his supporters can assert that he hasn't been found guilty. While that may be technically true, the fact remains that a court has already established that Zuma took money from Shaik as part of a corrupt relationship. The NPA has boxes and boxes of documents and extensive forensic audits, to back up its case. I'm not saying that this in itself means Zuma must be convicted, but clearly there is substance to the case -- substance worth serious consideration by a court. It's not just based on rumour.

The ANC is the ruling party. It has an overwhelming majority in Parliament, has 'deployed' its members throughout state institutions, and has implemented a long-running programme of transformation. Yet the language it uses is from the past, as if it were still the outsider, struggling against an unjust regime. The language is the language of war, and political intrigue, plots and conspiracies. Judges who rule against Zuma are accused of being 'counter-revolutionary'.

This is very, very dangerous stuff. It's one thing to say, let Zuma have his day in court. It's another to then begin a campaign to discredit the entire judiciary and prosecutorial system. The idea is that even if Zuma goes to trial and is found guilty, the verdict will not be accepted, as the courts will be seen to be suspect.

The ANC, which has considerable power in South Africa, is playing the victim and setting up imaginary enemies, in order to try to save its chosen leader, Zuma. In the process the party is prepared to  undermine public confidence in institutions vital to our democracy. The outcome of this can only be bad. A democracy must be based on the rule of law and if faith in that law, and in the institutions that uphold it, is undermined, the very foundations of our democracy will begin to crumble.

And all of this not in defence of a principle, or of human rights, but of one deeply flawed man. It's shameful and disgusting.