It should be easy to understand why Major General Prince Simelane found it necessary to pay for a press statement in the main stream newspapers to ‘clarify misconceptions’ regarding the composition of the anti-corruption task team.
Prince Simelane rarely speaks but it is known that when he does, he speaks sense and maturity. The minister of justice has inherited many problems in this latest portfolio he has been assigned, and we all know that when he decides to get a round to executing the tasks, he will do so decidedly and without fear.
That is what he has been known to have achieved in his previous portfolio and I trust him fully to get on to that in-tray that he hasn’t touched as yet, which is the state of the judiciary if not the administration of the justice system.
In other words, the public no longer has confidence in the justice system of this country, which has been a huge concern for years now, without anyone bothering to take any significant action.
Instead, the public has been left to feel the brunt of the decline in the collapse of the judiciary, which has resulted in the fight against corruption being nothing but a chorus that is beautiful to sing when we want to impress His Majesty the King.
It has been evident for a while that there is something wrong at the High Court, and no amount of calling for the separation of powers will disguise the fact that the judiciary has become part and parcel of the cancer that’s eating away at this society.
Major General Prince Simelane has been asked on many occasions in parliament to take action, in pointed criticism of the Chief Justice and I think the other day he made it clear that the issues are far beyond an individual.
The minister is right of course to be cautious in any approach to solve the crisis within the judiciary and I remain confident that it is only a matter of when, rather than if he will ever get to it.
It’s just that things are becoming desperate for a solution because it appears that the judiciary is fundamental in whatever we do as a country.
Yet, the courts of this country can no longer be trusted that they are not contaminated. the backlog of cases is in itself a huge challenge and then there is the elephant in the room regarding the chief justice.
fingers
This, I am sure, is in the minister’s in-tray and many of us are crossing our fingers that the minister will soon make time to tackle these issues, for his statement into what government is calling misconceptions only papers over the cracks of real challenges that have necessitated that he pens it in the first place.
In short, this shows that we have a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Ordinarily, the minister should not have to explain what role the prime minister is playing in a task team – especially one that fits fully in the mandate that was handed to him at Sibaya.
The prime minister should not have to feel the pressure to explain himself either, in a country that swears it wants to root out corruption, for this only demonstrates willingness to ensure swift results if not emphasise on the importance of a coordinated structure.
Yet, here we are. There is an agenda to politicise the role of the prime minister despite there being serious concerns that we are losing the fight against corruption, with many demanding to see action by way of big arrests and big bhabuli type of things.
The formation of the task team was essentially to deliver on this demand, instead of the small little fish in the shape of the arrests of home affairs officials that are now being paraded as corruption arrests.
The number of arrests from the ministry of home affairs should not fool us, no matter who the culprits are. Corruption is thriving in this country and it is everywhere.
The statement by the minister of justice was therefore a loud statement. On the other hand, it was a relief because the Cabinet has been said to be divided, so to a certain extent, the minister has showed a collective responsibility by standing form to explain the role of the prime minister in the task team.
The main thrust, however, was in having to explain something so obvious and important for a society looking to make a positive statement in the fight against corruption.
That the minister had to explain to the nation that the task team is not a new phenomenon, should itself be a loud statement because it shows that we are now engaging in the politics of personalities, which fundamentally is what we are struggling with in this country.
It is not rocket science that the misconception is deliberate and aimed at frustrating the efforts to go full throttle on corruption, if not just to undermine the prime minister. But then again, we have been labelled as part of a camp so we are not supposed to have an opinion on these things, because when we do, we validate the rumours.
This country has suddenly become a toxic environment where anything we say and do puts us in boxes! But, alas, the truth is around the corner. We should only stand firm in the knowledge that we speak our mind, in a free society.
Having said that, we should applaud Prince Simelane for being bold as to state the truth and confront the issue, instead of leaving it out to those who are spreading the malicious misinformation.
The only thing that should worry Prince Simelane and the Cabinet should be that the statement wasn’t an attempt to give a progress report into the contribution thus far of the task team, which I challenge the Cabinet to prioritise.
The very fact that people are misinforming the public shows that there is not enough information in the first place.
It is tricky, I know, but a narrative only works if you are in the front foot. Anything else can only be a futile effort at it.
