Johannesburg - The long arm of the law should always prevail
The past few weeks have, without any doubt, been very intriguing and eventful for the country’s criminal justice system.
The judicial system has been under the spotlight and the nature of the recent cases before it was a real test to the health of democracy. The public has, understandably, been watching with keen interest.
The decision by the Constitutional Court this week to sentence former president Jacob Zuma to 15 months in prison for contempt of court took centre stage and is undoubtedly the biggest news of the week.
This matter sought to test the independence of our judiciary and its ability to protect the country’s Constitution. It was necessary for the judiciary to prove that it is the bulwark of our democracy and to restore public trust in its functioning.
The Supreme Court of Appeal’s ruling last week that retired former apartheid police officer Joao Rodrigues should be prosecuted in relation to the murder of slain political activist Ahmed Timol at the then-John Vorster Police Station in October 1971 had far reaching implications. It augured well for the pursuit of justice and the rule of law.
Firstly, it has forced us to do what we what we supposed to have done years ago - implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
It has laid a solid foundation for the those who were involved in apartheid crimes and failed to appear before the TRC for amnesty to be prosecuted 27 years into the democratic dispensation.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Hawks announced this week that there is collaboration to establish a dedicated and specialised unit to bring to book perpetrators of apartheid crimes.
The NPA said: “The NPA acknowledges that the unmerited delay of prosecutions of these cases amounts to the denial of justice to the victims if apartheid era atrocities.”
This is a step in the right direction and augurs well for the country’s criminal justice system. The NPA admits that it going to be a mammoth task given the decades in which those crimes were committed. It will investigate and prosecute the cases coming from the TRC where the perpetrators failed to appear and were not granted amnesty.
This should come as a welcome relief to the families who are in pursuit of justice for the brutal assault and killing of their loved ones during apartheid. It will open old wounds, but it is for a just cause.
This is certainly part of our history that has been haunting us and the criminal justice system owes it to the families to deliver justice for them to have closure. The TRC hearings sought to underline that apartheid was brutal and evil.
The country has waited for too long to act on this.
The developments relating to Zuma case have demonstrated the state’s capabilities to deal with lawlessness and to prove that no one is above the law.
South Africans have been watching the matter relating to Zuma’s refusal to appear before the Zondo commission into allegations of sate capture with bated breath. Equally, the case relating to the prosecution of Rodrigues is going to be very intriguing. It is going to be interesting to see how the state deals with the evidence and witnesses given the years when these crimes were committed.
As the NPA says, it certainly is going to require a team of dedicated detectives and prosecutors to crack many of cases relating apartheid atrocities. The long arm of the law should always prevail.
* Morwane writes in his personal capacity.