Joel Netshitenzhe
Article: Letter from Tshwane
26 January 2001
Do we respect our state institutions?
The
issue of legitimacy of the democratic
state has come under sharp focus in relation
to the arms acquisition process.
Literally
millions of words have been written on
why the Special Investigation Unit (SIU)
under Judge Heath should be included in
the investigation. Among the less irrational
are arguments around powers of investigators
and perceptions of independence.
This,
despite the fact that the other agencies
– the Public Protector, the Auditor-General
(AG) and the National Directorate of Public
Prosecutions (Scorpions) – either
have similar or more powers.
The
Public Protector and the AG derive their
powers directly from the constitution
to investigate officials’ conduct
and/or misuse of public funds. The Scorpions
have the power to seize property on the
strength of suspicion that it has been
illegally acquired or is being used for
criminal purposes.
The
logical conclusion from the clamour around
Heath is therefore that these other agencies
are either incompetent or cannot be trusted.
Another
line of reasoning focuses on the judgement
of the Constitutional Court. The more
abrasive question the very judgement itself,
which declared legislation on the SIU
unconstitutional.
Others
present complex sophistry: use the SIU
without Heath, or the whole SIU because
the investigation would be completed within
the year that the Constitutional Court
gave government to correct the anomaly.
Yet, the Court also said that government
should regularise the situation without
undue delay.
In
other words, government is being encouraged
to do things that border on defiance,
presumably because Heath’s SIU is
seen as independent and all other agencies
not. The integrity of our constitutional
order can thus be put under strain in
pursuit of a fishing expedition.
Judge
Heath argues that if the information in
his possession were given to the President,
the lives of "whistle-blowers"
would be in danger. And abracadabra, the
day after the President announced his
decision on the SIU, we are told de Lille
had received death threats! The Police
Commissioner is not informed, and "PAC
security" is marshalled to protect
her.
So
the saga continues, fuelled by an active
imagination, that this democratic state
cannot be trusted. But, if South Africa
cannot trust its Head of State, the Commissioner
of Police, the AG, the Public Protector
and the Scorpions; and if it can dismiss
a contention by the National Assembly
Speaker that there was no resolution calling
on the President to appoint the SIU, who
then is the guardian of our constitutionality?
Judge Heath perhaps?
This
illustrates the point made in the last
Letter from Tshwane on the legitimacy
of the new, democratic order.
In
his response to issues raised then, DA
leader, Tony Leon argues that there is
nothing wrong in questioning the integrity
of the Chief of the National Defence Force
while cosying up to retired officers of
the apartheid SADF. He declares it’s
all in order for an Opposition party to
bypass government Ministers and seek direct
liaison with UN agencies.
But
it is in his denial and demand for an
apology on the issue of discouraging investment
that his character shines through. To
resolve this matter, let’s quote
from his speech to potential investors
at the US-SA Business Council in the USA
last September:
"SA’s
health department, ever in pursuit of
quick fixes for HIV/AIDS has come dangerously
close to bypassing international drug
patent laws…Telkom is allegedly abusing
its monopoly… Instead of calling
Telkom to heel, the government has done
the opposite…Government has announced
its intention to list up to 20% of Telkom
by the third quarter of next year…
But potential investors need detail…"
Perhaps
Tony Leon will apologise to the South
African people: for these words of sheer
disloyalty, and for such duplicity!
These
are not issues of party political debate.
They are about statehood and loyalty,
in an evolving democracy.
It
is a year since we started corresponding
in the pages of Independent newspapers.
Sadly, this is our last Letter from Tshwane.
You
may have noticed that the bulk of the
letters dealt with matters of the economy,
national identity and statistics. These
are critical questions facing our country.
They were at the top of the lekgotla agenda
this week, as Cabinet set out the programme
for 2001.
Tshwane
hopes that discussion on these issues
will continue. In the midst of excitement
around the immediate and the sensational,
South Africans would do well to remember
an injunction, paraphrased, from a different
but exciting circumstance: It’s all
about building democracy and the economy!
Joel
Netshitenzhe
CEO, GCIS
Issued by Government
Communication and
Information System
(GCIS)
Published
in Independent Newspapers
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