Zuma more equal than others as ANC continues assault on judiciary

The assault by the ANC and allies on the judiciary and the propaganda war of deliberately creating misconstrued perceptions continues. The ANC issued a statement in its online newsletter explaining why it stood by Jacob Zuma after this week’s Supreme Court of Appeal judgement. The statement mainly revolves around the principle of a person being assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and that this was a right that should also be afforded to Zuma. However, of considerable interest is some of the revealing language used in the statement.

For instance, the ANC says the matter is not merely about Zuma, but about the “principles and practises” upon which the ANC intends “to build a new society” that is “democratic, just and equitable”. This statement smacks of ideological patronisation and begs the question what the ANC has been doing these past 14 years and why do we yet again need new practises and principles to yet again build a new society.

The statement goes on to say it wants a society in which there is “an independent, impartial and fair judiciary” that safeguards the rights and interests of all people. The use of the word “fair” in this context by the ANC is a new one. The independence and impartiality of the judiciary should, in itself, automatically imply fairness.

However, every time the judicial process has gone against Zuma, the ANC has implied that there was a conspiracy against him and that he could not expect a fair trial. At times the judiciary and individual judges were attacked and ridiculed by ANC and alliance leaders. Whenever judgement went in favour of Zuma, the ANC expressed satisfaction with the fairness and independence of the judiciary as it is. The use of the word “fair” is therefore added in this context – the process having gone against Zuma - to strengthen the propagated perception that Zuma cannot expect a fair trial.

Independence, impartiality and fairness is accepted by the ANC in the judicial context only in as far as the actions of the judiciary are aligned in keeping with the preconceived ideas, demands and expectations of the ANC, the alliance and their leaders.

The statement argues for Zuma to be treated equally with all other citizens under the Constitution, which nobody will deny as being his right. However, the ANC fails to acknowledge that Zuma has been treated more equal than most and has in fact frequently been elevated above the law by the ANC and allies. This is borne out by the fact that Zuma and his legal team have squandered millions in taxpayers’ money in Zuma’s numerous legal attempts to drag out proceedings against him apparently in the hope that eventually the charges against him will go away, to have various legal proceedings thrown out on technicalities or to altogether avoid Zuma having to defend himself in an open and impartial court of law that is good enough for every other South African citizen.

In addition the ANC and allies have, whenever the process went against Zuma or when there was a chance it could go against him, organised mass marches, rallies and demonstrations and have resorted to threats and what might amount to hate speech against the judiciary and those seeking the rule of law and justice in the Zuma case – certainly no ordinary action in an ordinary criminal case of just another South African who demands equality before the law.

It also comes as no surprise that the ANC – though its parliamentary Chief Whip Myamezeli Booi - has already called for ANC lawyers to review the National Prosecuting Authority Act with a view to its possible amendment because, in their view, the latest two judgements in the Zuma case showed that senior judges disagreed on how to interpret the Act. What Booi and the ANC fail to acknowledge is that the five appeal court judges disagreed with one high court judge – more than enough reason to accept that the interpretation of the five appeal judges is the correct one. That also happens to be the one that went against Zuma. Therefore once more, the perception of suspicion and unfairness must again be strengthened in building a case for the law to be changed. The ANC will no doubt soon also again proceed with its legislative attempts in Parliament to bring the judiciary under political control and create a Zimbabwe-style puppet judiciary.