Justice is blind. But it appears to be tone deaf as well.

I have no great sympathy for Adriaan Vlok and former police chief Johan van der Merwe, facing charges of the attempted murder of Frank Chikane. Of the 23 000 lives lost during the struggle to end, and defend, apartheid, the decision by the National Prosecuting Authority to hone in on this one case raises more than an eyebrow.





 

Thinking about Vlok’s day in court led me to South Africa’s almost forgotten iron lady, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. In 1996 I arranged for families of her victims to appear before the TRC at hearings on her reign of terror. The TRC special investigation into her Mandela United Football Club concluded that “political circumstances and sensitivities” led to her not being prosecuted for a string of offences in which she was directly implicated. She was only ever convicted for the kidnapping of Stompie Seipei.'

In 1998 I met with the Attorney-General of the Witwatersrand and presented him with a memorandum based on the TRC investigation highlighting at least three cases which indicated that prosecutions should occur without further delay. On kidnapping, assaults and attempted murder she had sought no indemnity. The Attorney-General promised to take matters under review. Eight years later there has been no response and no prosecution.

Why has the NPA focused on Vlok and Van der Merwe? Is it a case of bias and selectivity? I have a theory. Perhaps the NPA is trying to demonstrate even-handedness of an altogether different sort. They are under immense political pressure not to proceed with the prosecution of Jacob Zuma whose many vocal supporters allege a political witch hunt. What better refutation to the claim that they are going after a politically powerful Zuma than to point to the prosecution of Vlok and Van der Merwe. Of course, there is no equivalence between the cases. And Vlok is very much a political back number while Zuma is a potential president. But the prosecution of a ghost from apartheid’s past provides forward cover in prosecuting the present challenger for the country’s highest office.

Tony Leon