By: Mcebo Dlamini
The manipulation of justice to serve political interests and factions is not a new thing. The law is vulnerable, easily misused to serve certain interests which at times do not purport notions of justice, equality and freedom as demanded by the Constitution of this country. This is why we need to be able to read the nuance, to discern between law at work and when certain individuals with power are working the law. This is not a simple task especially when we have a media industry that operates as propaganda machinery and is unashamedly pushing certain agendas. But the problem is not insurmountable, it only requires us to be critical and of course suspicious of what is so vehemently presented as the truth and as the correct interpretation of the law.
Ace Magashule, the Secretary General of the ANC has been accused of fraud, corruption and money laundering. But as it is often the case when dealing with politicians guilt seems to be already assumed, this is evident in how the media has chosen to report on this case. The SG has been painted as a corrupt leader despite the fact that there is no substantial evidence against him. Now, one should obviously be reluctant in making bold statements about a case that is yet to undergo trial, especially if we are to adhere to the principle of innocent until proven guilty. The charges against the SG are in connection with a R255 million asbestos eradiation deal. What is interesting though about these charges is that the responsibility of procurement solely rested on the accounting officer, why then is the SG in the dock? Perhaps this question will be answered in court.
There is no doubt that we ought to demand high level of responsibility when it comes to public representatives but what happens in a case of a clear witch hunt? Do we ignore the reality that the law is used to purge certain politicians out of power? Is it not true that not so long ago the numerous charges on president Zuma contributed to his ‘forced’ resignation? Here I am not suggesting that corrupt leaders should not be charged when they commit acts of corruption but rather how do we deal with the use of the law to fight political battles? This is even more so because the law seems to favour those aligned with certain interests over the others.
In a society such as ours the law becomes an instrument that serves the ruling class and its proxies, at least this is what Marx warns us of. We should then be able to strike a balance between being able to see when criminality is being fairly prosecuted and when it is being manufactured for a desired outcome. Ace Magashule could very well be guilty but it is hard to deny that his affiliation and faction within the ANC could have much to do with his prosecution.
