ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and EFF leader Julius Malema make a very good point. The dignity of all suspects has to be respected by the authorities when they arrest them, hold them in custody and bring them to court. These suspects, whether petty thieves or national politicians, are innocent until proven guilty.
Commenting on reports that he was about to be arrested after years of corruption allegations levelled against him, Magashule implied that his arrest should happen quietly, away from television cameras, and called for the “era of Hollywood-style arrests” to end.
“They should never do that because that’s what we fought the Scorpions (for) and it’s not the right thing to do because in the public eye they actually find you guilty. Can they act responsibly for all of us, for all South Africans? It doesn’t matter how strong they feel,” said Magashule.
Malema was eloquent after the arrest of businessman Edwin Sodi and his appearance in court. He said in an interview: “Don’t arrest people Hollywood-style. Do it in a dignified manner; at the end of the day, these people will go to jail.
“South Africans should be concerned about the constitution. South Africans should be concerned about the rights of our people. They should be concerned about the dignity of each individual even if [they are] accused of obscene crimes, because you know what’s going to happen? The beating is coming. They (law enforcement) are going to start beating them up and after the beating, the killing will follow.”
One cannot agree with Malema more. There is, however, one problem with this sudden squealing and whining about rights and dignity. It is opportunistic. The elites are talking dignity and rights because they are now in the firing line.
This is a man who has been a legislator and leader in the ANC for more than 26 years and yet, suddenly, he has found a place for a discussion on dignity during arrests.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) recorded an astonishing 393 cases of deaths as a result of police action in its 2018/19 annual report. It said 214 people had died in police custody in just that year. You think that’s horrific? At least 124 cases of rape by police officers were reported. There were 270 cases of torture by the police.
You will be hard-pressed to find a speech where Magashule speaks for the dignity, let alone lives, of these hundreds of people. This is a man who has been a legislator and leader in the ANC for more than 26 years and yet, suddenly, he has found a place for a discussion on dignity during arrests.
Malema, to his credit, has on numerous occasions railed against police brutality, yet his standing up for Sodi is also a tad suspicious. Why now? Well, let’s talk about corruption and how one stops it.
You cannot stop a pandemic by treating it under the cloak of secrecy. That is why, when leaders such as health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize test positive for Covid-19, they do not refuse to disclose their condition. They tell everybody. Why? So others can be careful. So others can get tested. So others can protect those close to them by taking appropriate measures, such as mask-wearing, social-distancing and quarantining.
Corruption is at pandemic levels in SA. There is no area that is not touched by corruption. It is everywhere. It touches everybody. It breaks everything we have tried to build as a country. President Cyril Ramaphosa was absolutely correct when he wrote in August: “The ANC may not stand alone in the dock, but it does stand as accused number one. This is the stark reality that we must now confront.”
We know what happens when we try to treat pandemics in darkness.
Attempts to stop corruption have always been cloaked in secrecy. Transnet, Eskom, Denel and so many others have been wracked by corruption. They have nearly collapsed. Not a single person has been arrested or convicted. We don’t even know who has been investigated, if at all. It’s all in darkness.
What is needed now is light to be shed on the corruption pandemic. The likes of corruption-accused Mosebenzi Zwane, implicated in the Estina heist and others, must be seen bumbling at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture, must be seen when they are arrested, must be seen when they are in court and must be seen when they disappear into Kgosi Mampuru II prison. Magashule’s claim that the ANC destroyed the Scorpions to stop public arrests is hogwash. They did it to ensure they could loot freely.
We know what happens when we try to treat pandemics in darkness. Many of our people died from HIV/Aids complications because we tried to sweep it under the carpet. Never, never and never again.
The sight of a Sodi or, perhaps, Magashule or Zwane being arrested, appearing in court and finally being sent off to jail is the bright light, the cleansing transparency that will act as a deterrent to others thinking about committing these crimes.
Arrest them in broad daylight, I say.
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