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EPISCOPAL CHURCH PEOPLE for a FREE SOUTHtRN AFRICA

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30 December 1997

Mandela sets tone for hardline Mbeki presidency C The tone for the Thabo Mbeki presidency was .et by outgoing African National Congress President NelsonMandelaattheparty'sconferenceinMafeking this week. He hit out at unspecified white sabote111'B and conspirators, and hinted strongly that business would have to engage in a redistribution of wealth.

The largely white owned media came in for strong attack, while there were friendly words for the D).ain black rival party, the Inkatha Freedom Party.

For observers the speech indicated that the ANC will be going back to its bedrock of African nationalism and tar­geting'conspirators' for its failures to get through the next few difficult years, before economic growth starts to kick in.

Mandela said whites wanted to maintain lingering vestiges of apartheid to protect their privileges of the past. He said those "who have not accepted the reality of majority rule" were, among other things, taking part in Widespread crime and other acts to sabotage the economy and were using the maas media to spread anti-ANC propaganda. He said there was a counter-revolutionary conspiracy aimed at undermining the ANC, and appeared to blame crime and economic failure on it.

"'Various elements of the former ruling group have been working to establish a network which would launch or intensify a campaign of destabilisation,• Mandela said, listing their goals as weakening the ANC, using crime to make the country ungovernable, subverting the economy and eroding confidence in the ANC's ability to govern.

His statements appear to confirm reports earlier this month that intelligence agencies have been asked to focus on former apartheid generals and others engaged now in the private security industry, as well as on business (SouthScan vl2145 p349).

Mandela said that the truth about theN ational Security Management System had not been told at the Truth and Reconciliation Coinmissionand that the counter-insurgency machinerymightbeactivatedlateragainstthegovemment.

He said the ·process of social transformation had just begun, andhadnotyetimpactedseriouslyon the apartheid pandigm whida affected all aspects of people's lives. -rhis process has therefore not yet tested the strength of the counter-offensive which would seek to maintain the privi-leges of white minority." ' . .. . . · :. . · ·

The opponents of fundamental change had over the last ·three years sought to separate the goal of national recon­ciliation from the critical objective of social transformation, hesaid. ,. · . There had been serious resistance to the transformation of the public service, with representatives of the old order usingallmeansintheirpowertoensurethattheyremained in dominant positions. •· . · : . ·

"Some amongtheseowenoloyaltytOthenewconstitution and political order nor to the government of the day, and have no intention to implement our government's pro­grammes aimed at reconstruction and development.• . ··

'The counter-revolutionary network, which is already active and baaes itself on those in the public administration and others in other aectors of our society who have not ·accepted the reality of majority rule, is capable of carrying out very disruptive actions, • Mandela said.

Participatory democracy One of the ANC's successes was in having "'guarded

against any serious tendency towards balkanieation, such as would be reflected by an intense conflict around the question of provincial boundaries: Mandela said.

He commented on the contradiction between repre­sentative and participatory democracy and stressed the importanceofnon-govemmentalorganisations,community­based orgaD.isations and grass-roots-based organisations in ensuring popular participation in governance.

But he criticised some non-governmental organisations -.who pretended to represent independent and popUiarviews, but who were funded by some from inside or outside the country to promote their own political agenda within South Africa. In particular he mentioned USAID. ·· · ·The question of traditional leaders' -pc:lweni remained unresolved, he said, especially in the context of the estab­lishment of a democratic system of local government and the impact of African aOcieties on the formatiml of the new SA. .

White parties had essentially decided agains~ the pur­suit of a national agenda, choosingTather to propagate a reactionary, dangerous and opportunist position, he said, and added there was a need for the ANC to increase its political work among whites in general, and Afrikaners in particular. ·

Mandela reserved special praise for the Irikatha Free­dom Party, saying both it and the ANC served well in the national andKwa'Zulu-Natal government. "'These govern­ments are working well Without any serious tensions, regardless of the differences that exist between us and the IFP, on various questions.• ·

The issue of a possible pact between -the parties in the new climate has again . been raised.

SA PoL.lncs:

Business 'must bt~t socially accountable' ~- ·

C Outgoing African N~- • tional Congress president · Nelson Mandelahaswamed owners of capital that they have to acquire a new social conscience. He said that while capital might be owned privately, there had to be an institutionalised system of

~

social accountability for the owners of this capital. Owners of capital should, willingly, understand and

accept the idea that business success could no longer be measured by profit alone, he said.

An important element of ANC policy was ,the j deracialisation of the economy, to ensure that its ownership and management increasingly reflected the racial compo­sition of South African aociety, Mandela said.

The development of a 'patriotic bourgeoisie' has been a recurring theme on the Left of the party, which wants to eee the development of a new black bourgeoisie which allies itself with national renewal aims. White capital has been consistently criticised among trade unionists for its relative failure to invest domestically, and its eagerness to send money abroad instead.

"While some very limited progress has been made in this area, it is clear that a major and very determined effort will have to be made by both the public and private leCtors to realise this objective." _

Mandela said that •according to this thesis, to which we must subscribe, success must also be measured with ref­erence to a system of social accountability for capital which reflects its impact both on human existence and the quality of that existence."

He said the ANC would have to work out new and more effective policy options. It would also have to engage the private sector to "take on this matter, informed by the understanding that the perpetuation of the apartheid patterns of economic ownership and control constitutes a recipe for an enormous social and political explosion in future".

Da,id Beresford and Angella Johnson in Johannesburg look at the aggressive leadership style of the ANC's new generation

A SNelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki left last week's ANC congress in Maftkeng, the be­ginning· of a new era

in the South African political saga was ushered in by warn· ingbells.

sumed ·to have been given to Mandela to deliver on the grounds that his stature would protect him from too much criticism, as well as sug· gesting a continuity of leadership.

government, the private sec· tor of perpetuating apart· held's patterns of ownership and economic control, and the main white opposition parties of defending white privilege.

bewildering. But attributed to Mbeki the comments were more frightening than baf. fling, because they would seem to cOnfirm the worst fears about South Africa's President-designate.

The message was clear: to all intents and purposes, Man· deJa has been consigned to history. The reign of the great man is over.

The week-long conference was dominated by his 'Ene­mies of Change' speech, an extraordinary five-hour open· ing address. Although he de­livered it, there was little doubt that it was largely writ· ten-or at least inspired- by his successor.

As it was, even the respect shown by South Africans for their revered leader did not save the President from a sav­aging. The liberals denounced it as 'unworthy' and 'con· temptible' and the National· ists as evidence of 'paranoia'. The attacks were entirely pre­dictable. Telling the 3,000 dele­gates the revolution was not over, Mandela warnedofsinis· ter forces bent on undermin· ing South Africa's young de­mocracy. He accused the media of conspiring with non· governmental organisations to undermine the black-led

Perhaps the most startling aspect of the speech was his attack on unspecified non· governmental organisations. With a lack of substantiation which almost opened him to charges of McCarthyism, he

. accused many NGOs of work· ing to 'corrode the influence of the liberation movement' and suggested they were acting as 'instruments of foreign goV· ernments and institutions'.

Rumour- some of it seem· ingly well-informed :_ has it that Mbeki nurses a hostility to the media which has led him to muse to advisers in private on the merits of cen· sorship. And there have been suspicions that his carefully reasoned advocacy of affirma. tive action camouflages 'Afri. canist' sentiments which bor· der on the racial.

Apparently designed to set the tone for the new Mbeki administration, it was pre-

Coming from Mandela -the man who has given his life to the cause of racial unity and has shown contempt for 'pop­ulist' exploitation of black grievances - the speech was

The reaction of white South Africa to the speech is sum· med up by political commen· tator Lester Venter, author of a recently published best· seller, After Mandela Goes. He

says the speech was a sign the neputy Finance Minister, proudly observed that the that the 'rainbow nation' con· who warned that whites were · ANC had gone a long way cept is fast unravelling. spuming a historic second towards building a 'patriotic -_ · Venter argues that the ANC chance to mend fences with bourgeoisie'. is looking for scapegoats to blacks. The identification of Mbeki blame for its inability to trans· But while the white commu- with well-heeled patriotism form the economy and toeiety nity obviously needs to do accounts for what might and deliver jobs and homes to more to compensate for the otherwise be seen as dispro­its constituency: 'I must say, . imbalances resulting from portionate excitement. over as a whitie, that his words are apartheid, it is questionable one development at the con· part of the new black cultural whether Mbeki's identifica· ference, the election of Patrick grammar that leaves me feel· tion is as much with the de- 'Terror' Lekota to the part· ing even more alienated and prived black masses as with time post of party chairman. marginalised.' the new black elite. Last year Lekota was

Complaints of conqilacency Outgoing Treasurer-Gen· thrown out as Premier of the within South Africa's white eral Makhenkesi Stofile Free State by . the ANC's community - which suffers boasted to the conference that national leadership after be from a collective delusion that be had overseen a dramatic had accused members of his it has done enough by 'allow· turnaround in party finances. provincial Cabinet of corrup­ing' majority rule - are noth- He attributed it in part to the tion. A politician whose com· ing new. ANC's success as a 'facilitator' mitment to racial unity rivals

They have been articulated to create opportunities for even that of Mandela - he is recently by, among others, black business, which had reputed to have won the one of the ANC's most senior resulted in rewards by way of hearts ·of ·many notoriously white members, Gill Marcus, donations to party coffers. He conservative Free State farm·

ers by keepmg an Afrikaans Bible by his bed and showing an enthusiasm for rugby- he has emerged as the champion of an emerging left-wing bloc.

It is made up of the trade union movement and the South African Communist Party, as well as members of the domestic anti-apartheid movement who have been marginalised by the ascen· dancy of Mbeki and those like him who fought the National Party government from exile.

South African commenta­tors were last week describing Lekota:'s comeback as the start of 'a struggle for the soul of the ANC'. It might also be described as a struggle against the philosophy im· plicit iii Mandela's identifica­tion of South Africa's sup­posed •enemies of change'.

.,:·

MAIL. GUARDIAN Dec•mller 12to 181teT

TRC leaves deep scars on staff The truth commission's hearings into human rights abuses end next week. But the emotional effects on the commission's staff could last for many years. Angella Johnson reports

Frank Mohapi was ·nter­viewing three surviving members of a family that had virtUally been wiped out

in a sectarian attack eight years ago ·.rhen he noticed he was sitting on a :hair riddled with bullet holes.

"I looked around and saw other holes in the walls and various bits of ··urniture," said the Truth and Rec­,nciliation Conunission statement­:aker. "[realised that these people . .-ere living in the same poor envi­.·onment after this time. while I was ;oing back to my hotel room with ·:lean sheets and a hot meal. And :here was nothing I could do to help <hem."

Angry and confused about his "Ole in the healing process, he went 1ack to his hotel and spent the ·vening getting drunk at the bar.

There was no way of predicting he effect on commission employees 1f the tales of human rights abuses hat have been recounted before the ·ommission over the past 20 months '~ South Africans have struggled to !f'al with apartheid's past.

Their responses have ranged mm short tempers and.aggression nth(' f:tlTiilY home to drinking prob­'"'ln5, nightmares and a decrease in

sexual appetite among those in-volved in the massive process of shifting through the human debris of mindless violence.

Commissioners, interpreters, computer inputters, statement-tak· ers and journalists have had to deal with emotional challenges on a scale to rival some of the worst human . rights atrocities conunitted this cen­tury.

"Many of the adverse responses creep up on them over a period of time," explains Thulani Grenville­Grey, the counselling psychologist responsible for helping conunisston staff cope with the trauma.

He says they were like sponges absorbing the grief, pain and ag­gression of others. "They responded with classic post-traumatic stress symptoms, which is why we have en­couraged them to go for weekly de­briefing sessions to talk things through."

These 90-minute group sessions are like emotional cleansing, offer­ing an outlet for the anger and ft'us­tration which build up day by day. Although many of the commission staff are reluctant to admit to hav­ing needed counselling. Grenville­Grey_ says the groups were well at-

tended by many of the 400 people who worked for the commission at its peak.

The translators especially' who were talking in the first person, were more susceptible to taking on the emotions of witnesses. "It has had a hell of an effect on everyone," says their co-ordinator, Dr Theo du Plessis, of the department of lin­guistics at the University of the Free State. "Not necessarily when you are working, but afterwards when you try to relax."

·He recalls being particularly af. fected by stories relating to the killing of children. "I'm a father and once or twice I've broken down and cried after hearing parents talk about what happened to their chll· dren."

Along with the translators, jour­nalists have had the most severe ex­posure from covering the series of hearings across the country. Many have had to take time off to relieve the tension. Others are now desper­ate to get away from the daily dosage of man's inhumanity to man.

People like Ross Colvin (26), who writes for the South African Press Association, said: "I've had enough of listening to stories about death, torture, poisoning and burnt bod­ies," he says. "It has been the most disturbing job imaginable."

H is internal battle has been to try to retain a sense of at­tachment to the events. "It's

quite easy to sit through a session of the most terrible testimony and emerge unaffected, but sometimes when I think I can no longer be touched, someone comes along with a moving account of some incident which gets to me."

The toll has been both physical and mental He has suffered from mi· graines and low blood pressure since the hearings began. "Emotionally I'm now much harder after being ex· posed to so much brutality every day. Frankly,l've don't want to sit through any more."

. Journalist Thapelo Mokushane

(2.'5) describes as "disturbing" the dis­passionate way that former security branch officers talked about burning corpses next to where they were hav­ing a braai. "It's been very sickening to realise some of them never thought of what they were doing but just fol­lowed others."

There was no respite from the im· ages which would replay in his mind at odd moments, leaving him de· pressed and angry. "I have to fight down my emotions in order to do my job."

Numerous people have cracked under the strain and are now propped up by drinks and drugs. For 110me the emotions are donnant, like a sleeping volcano waiting to erupt. According to Grenville-Grey, it could take anything to trigger a violent re­action.

"It is usually when these people have stopped working, like at the Christmas break, that they are more susceptible to an emotional col· lapse." For others it could be years before the effects are felt.

IIAIL & GUARDIAN Du .... ., tl to tl tel7

Land re·stitution lags behind Ann Eveleth

The Commission on the Restitution of Land Rights is "completely dys­functional", under-funded, under­staffed and way behind on delivery,

say land rights activists, government officials and commission insiders.

"We are the Cinderella of commissions, .. chiefland claims commissioner Joe Seremane says. "If the government will deny me the ~million I need to do my job for the citizens of this country, then they are not taking [land] restitution seriously."

Seremane was responding to a fresh wave of criticism levelled at the semi-autonomous commission by non-governmental land rights organisations and others who blame it for clog-

Ditlhake said the siow pace of restitution was a key issue among national land committee members. "OUr affiliates report that some com­mission offices are piled high with reports, that reports go missing. Others are lying in the provinces waiting for action. Claims are reject· ed because researchers compile incorrect in· formation and some commission staff are in­sufficiently trained to pick up on cultural nu­ances that are important to registering claims."

Commission insiders- many of whom pre­viously served as non-governmental land ac­tivists- admit the problems exist. But while some insiders blame "poor management", oth· ers point to a lack of resources and capacity as the prime stumbling blocks. In KwaZulu-Natal, for example, the commission has 30 staff mem­bers- after a recent staffing boost- to run the office and process more than 6 000 land claims

Seremane admits the covunission has not kept up with expectations. "My own relatives are demanding to know when their land claims are going to be settled" he said.

ging up land restitution, the process intended to restore land rights or provide compensation to the victims of racist land-grabbing under laws enacted between 1913 and 1994.

But statistics released recently by the De­partment of Agricultural and Land Affairs in­dicate that land restitution continues to lag far behind other land reform processes.

action to short-circuit the commission's work. But national chief director of land restitu­

tion Jean duPlessis pointed out that these bot­tom-line figures obscure much of the commis­sion's recent progress including its rejection of 170 invalid claims; the near settlement of several pre-1994 claims; a further 14 claims now awaiting action by the Land Claims Court; and 46 other claims which have reached "an advanced stage of negotiation".

The commission is also poised to settle a

More than 22 000 restitution claims have been lodged with the commission since its for­mation in May 1995. But only four post-1994 claims have been settled by the Land Claims Court- the final arbiter of land claims inves­tigated and forwarded by the commission.

This slow pace prompted Abie Ditlhake, the land rights manager of the national land com­mittee- a coalition of land rights non-gov­ernmental organisations- to call for "drastic"

· large number of claims handled concurrently as part of large urban claims, such as nearly

.4 000 awaiting settlement in Cato Manor, while · single rural claims settled often reflect multi­ple claimants filing jointly.

R efusing to be held to Reconstruction and Development Programme projec­tions that 30% of agricultural land

would be transferred to black hands by 1999, Seremane says it is up to the African Nation­al Congress to exp~in that shortfall. But, he adds, the commission has also been unable to keep up with its own projections.

"'nearly 1006 I gave my commissioners a ball­park figure of finalising 60 claims by the end of 1996-but the realities proved me wrong."

Cumbersome, bureaucratic and legalistic processes dog commission staff at every turn with historical land valuations, extensiv~

.. ((leeds and historical research required for every claim, say commission insiders.

But Sbu Mkhize of the Pietermaritzburg­based Association for Rural Advancement ar­gues that some cases are "simple, straight-for­

IWard" claims which should be settled rela-.. · tively quickly.

Recent legislative·amendments have opened a path to "fast-track" similar undis· puted claims. But commission staffers fear this may require claimants to do their own re­search- an option open to few claimants.

But critics say these figures still reflect an inordinately slow process. In contrast, the Land Redistribution Programme has already transferred more than 175 OOOha of land to nearly 17 000 families in 78 projects since 1994. A further 393 projects have been approved or designated.

Seremane says the commission has applied much of a recent R15-million, three-year trust fund from the Danish government to cover the _costs of contract work carried out by outside researchers, including non-governmental or­pnisation field woriten;. But, he adds, these funds, combined with the commission's RI4-million annual budget, still amount to a sig­nificant shortfall.

DuPlessis, however, argues that this short­fall followed the department's failure to spend its previous budget "It is very difficult to jus­tify huge increases when you are not spend­ing the money you do have. In the end it is not only about people and resources. It is about the proPer- management of the people andre­sources..you do have."

DuPlessis predicted the J)ace of restitution would pick up in the coming months. "If resti­tution is Cinderella, Cinderella is coming to the ball and Cinderella will be queen - be­cause it's non-negotiable," he said.

South Africa and the world hoped Desmond Tutu's commission

least six murder5 and many se­rious assaults.

It became obYious.during the bearings that most of the

would reach the truth charges against her would not about Winnie Mandela . stand up in a court; the wit-this week. Instead, writes nesses closest to the violence Mary Braid, the archbishop wer~ simp~ too flaky, criminal enoineered 6 act of or d~edited. ~ut some cred-

o Thle Witnesses d1d emerge, par-sugary theatre. ticularly from the families of

In a decade of reporting, no single moment bas made me as furious as the plastic "recon­ciliation" manufactured on Thursday between Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Joyce Seipei. the mother of Stompie Mocke~.l4,oneofberalleged victims.

The embrace between the women will he notched up as an eternal shame to the Truth and Rt'\.'(Jnciliation Commission and the hrave and dangerous ex­periment in nation-building it is currently spearheading.

· That Archbishop Desmond Tutu. the TRC chairman, actu­allv halted crucial cross-exam­ination of Mr5 Mandela over her alleged involvement in Stompie's murder for the fake event to take place still seems unhclievahle.

victims allegedly murdered on Mrs Mandela's order5.

The bearings also produced · a largely consistent and ex­tremely ugly picture of Mr5 Mandela and her "boys". Few c:an really still doubt that the Mother of the Nation was by the late 1980s a violent, unpre­dictable despot, totally unac­countable to her community and the liberation movement.

That aJone matter5 when Mr5 Mandela is just two weeks from seeking high office in the ANC; which would be a spring­board to the presidency.

For some, of course, race is the only concern. Mrs Mandela must be protected because she is a prominent black leader and surely only racist whites were intended to be c:alled to ac­count by the TRC.

The view is ill conceived.

CROC STILl HAS TEETH

with Mr5 Mandela in mind) to become like those we most de­lpise (the brutal custodians of the apartheid system).

The context in which Mr5 Mandela 's alleged abuses took place was clearly laid out. Azar CacbaJia, one of the few brave ANC figures to unequivocally coodcmn Mrs Mandela (and for that be can expect to suffer if abe does rise to power), said an­arcby reigned in Soweto. Thou­sands of youths, displaced and psychologically disturbed by the civil war, roamed the town­ship, using on each other the torture techniques the state bad inflicted on them.

Jeny Richardson, Mrs Man­dele's former henchman, now ICrviDg life for murdering Stem­pie, also testified that the boy was tortured using techniques borrowed from the BoeR. Vi­olence bad bred violence on an horrific sc:ale.

MrS Mandela showed no understanding of tbis. She was defiant, umwvering and, despite a vague apology prised from ber by a begging An:bbisbop Thtu, totally unrepentant On Thurs­day she was the same old Wm­Die; c:harismatic and strong but without insight or humility. She

made a mockery of the Commission by denying The truth and recon­

ciliation theory runs something like this. South Africans are bitterly di­vided by their racist past. Whites, in general, lived safe and comfortable lives, ignorant or indifferent to the brutal injustice meted out to blacks. Through the TRC it is hoped a new and healthy nation can be built by oonfronting South Africans with the truth about their past. Only through truth, the theory goes, is forgiveness and reconciliation possible.

How many ct.ances an a former aate pres­ident ,et!

everything and leaning on witnesses who later failed to show. A consummate populist, sbe turned the TRC into a political rally and used smears, racism and sarcasm to swipe at her detractoR and ac-

South Africa's attempts

Yesterday FW Botha was expeaecl to be lrTe5teCI and charJed for failq to~ wkh a TRC subpoena to leStify at a public hear­in& into the wortunas of the apantleld Die.

Instead the Commission pve him inoch­er chance - his chird - to.&et irwolftd wich a process he has dismissed u a dmls.

The offiCial ruson &lven by die tAc for die lssuin& of a chird subpoena II tlwl die MC· ond had teehnically expired. But k's no w- · cret that the Groot Krokoclil's (Gmt Crocodile) previous nlusals to m.nd die Mlrin& are a major politiml Madache. The Commission does licit want Its pursuit of him to become - as die perwcut1on

cusers. ·' . , . ' So ~ was sbe t!ted

like a heroine at the end when the mother of Lolo Sono, in whose murder Mrs Mandela was impli­cated by a-edible ~ess­es, was weeping that there was no justice and Mrs Seipei, having delivered of an old and allin& man. · ·:_Mary 8tvid

. · tbe PR cuddle, was sitting L-------....... ------' -,aione and rather lost in tbe to heal itself are slow, ar­duous and painful, with no guarantee of success. The experiment is being Closely watched by a worl<J in which wholesale human rights abuse is all \{X) common and mechanisms for dealing with it few.

That is what makes ThuR-. day's Teletubby-style reconcil­

iation so galling. It is still difficult to decide whether I'm more angry with the TRC, for being used, or MB Mandela, for using it.

For eight days MR Mandela had listened to allegations that she and her notorious Mandela United Football Club were in­volved in the late 1980s in at

FiRtly, in this quasi-religious process, sin had been discovered to be fairly widely spread. And secondly, the Winnie hearings have not divided opinion into two district c:ainps - black and white. After aJI, those who suf­fered were her own; and the families demanding the TRC in­vestigate her aJieged gross hu­man rights abuses are all black.

Bishop Peter Storey, the leader of the Methodist (]lurch, hit it right. He said the Winnie sc:andaJ was about the abuse of small people by the powerful. It is possible, he said, (clearly

tmJ'lYIDg -bllfl. 1'bt tittle people were once again used and discarded.

This was no time for cuddles. Small people do matter and so does truth; particularly in a country which lived a filthy lie for so long. As the TRC would usually teD you, there is no short c:ut to truth or reconciliation.

Mrs Mandela should never have had as mqch as a sniff of recxmciliation when truth was so obviously absent. It reduced the TRC, of which I have been a defender, to a gameshow with Archbishop Thtu as the well­meaning but misguided host.

15

.A good ccy·won't wash away the· tragedy of South Africa

' '

· , · i The Obselwr 7 December 1997 ____ ._

.,.

. Perhaps more tell1Dg ware llUiband's release, WBl1liDg saw black South Atrlea 8lttiDg Ill laid......,... ·. · the tears Azar Cacbalia fOUiht blm. to 'stay away from Man- in judgment on a black South il Johannesburg . to hold back. The cacbaliu - . dela'. 1bere were, by all ac- African - only one of the

. . . .: one of South Africa'• prHmli- counts, many such calls as she panel of ldx was white. But CRY THE beloved country: Dlmt political Indian families worked to poison Mandela there Is another form of racial not even the late Alan Paton - have long l1nka With the against her 'enemies'. aa:ountlmcy which tnsists on

' ·could have 'lmartned the Mandelas. In the FUtil!e, Nel- Her vendetta eee1ned to the recognition of Africans-tragic deptha belleath the. son Mandela and· Yusuf bear fruit. Ramaphosa was 80 'the most disadvantaged', as

, tears shed at South Africa's · Cachalla stood shoulder-to- tnoensed by his exclusion Mbeki defines them - as a i• truth. commission bearings on shoulder In the defiaDce cam- from b1gh omce In the Man- d1stinct group. ,. Winnie Mandela l8lt week. · pa1gn. Azar, as a young human dela adm1nlstration that he · By that rule vi thumb the

Charles Zwane, a young 'rights lawyer, followed In that boycotted the 1994 preslden- panel, with two Indians · member of the -•otorlous tradition In the Eightlea. tial Inauguration. Her hand among their number, was

'Mandela United Football He was among the 'Yount was seen, too, In the political evenly balaDced. Leading the 'Club', broke down describing Turlra' of~ liberatloD, move- · ascendancy of the external evidence against Mrs Mandela police tortures which, be 18id, menl - men such as Cyril wing of the ANC and the emer- was another of the less disad· lay behind his COblessiODI to Ramapbosa, Murphy Morobe aence of Tbabo Mbekl as vantaged, the lawyer Hanlf Dine murders. . . · and Va111 Moosa who arguably Mandela's heir apparent. . Vally, with a white deputy.

1be 'Mother fit tle Nation' did more to lif!erate South Af. Oli the face of it, the C!J11D- And, aputhekl having dis-. removed her bejewelled ricathantbeANC'sbumbllng m1sslonhearlngsonMrsMan- couraged the pnactice of law

~ glasses to wipe her eyes in Dillitary wing. . dela were about truth and tn- by blacks, the rankl of law­' ·front of the cameras. 1be But for Young Turks they nocence: did she murder yers relied on by-'tnterested \ . Methodist leader, BiBbop Paul were hugely respectful of Stompie, did she hire the mur- parties' to attack her were ' Verryn, wept at tbe memory·· their elders, particularly of derers of Asvat, did she order overwbe1m1nglywhlte.

of his seven years Df hell - the legend of Mandela. After the ldll1ng of Kukl Mosocu, The racial divide was appar­llving with Mrs Mandela's the murder of 14-year-old • did she have Lolo Sono tossed 'eDt 8JD0D11 the wlt:nessefl. 1be charge that he 'IOdomlsed Stomple Sepel In 1989 they down a mine shaft ... ? most powerful evidence black children'. ' urged black South Africa to But as the inquiry pro- ·against Mrs Mandela came

And Ibrahim Asvat paused shun Mrs Mandela. And In 80 greased It became more than a from the (white)· Methodist in his Implacable. pursuit of doing they sowed the seeds of test of right and wrong. In a leader, Bishop Peter Storey, Mrs Mandela to weep In recol- their political destruction. · way It was a battle for the who detailed the drama aur­lection of his brother's fight A hint of Mrs Mandela's 'rainbow nation' so passion- rounding Stompie's death for life in his doctor's surgery. revenge was given by ately espoused by the colDJDis. with the help of contemporary

. Mrs Mandela Is accused of cachalla to the truth colDJDis. sion's chairman, Archbishop . diaries. having procured the murder sion. He told of a telephone Desmond Tutu. His testimony contrasted of Dr Abu-Baker Asvatin 1989. · call from her shortly after her Superftc1ally, the hearings with what Tutu referred to as

• I

the 'moral turpitude' of (black) community leaders, whose IJTesolute action at the time was matched by their hesitant performance before the commission.

Mrs Mandela was well aware of this divide, as she demonstrated with her racist jibes at Murphy Morobe -referring to him as 'Murphy Patel'. And the wider percep­tion of the Inquiry as a racial contest was reflected In the outpourings of a local news· paper columnist. who raged against, 'kangaroo justice'.

The commission will deliver its fiDdings on Mrs Mandela next year. But the new rulers of South Africa will have an opportunity to pass judgment at the ANC's conference at Mafeklng In jtJst under two weeks, when (If ber nomina· tion stands) she makes a bid for the deputy presidency.

The delegates might well consider the words of Storey. In a passionate statement at

. the end of his evidence, he denounced apartheid but warned: 'One of the tragedies of life is that it is possible to become like that which we hate most.'

.By The New York Times

JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 4 - Following are excerpts, as transcribed by The New York Times. from testimony today before South Afri­ca's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which has examined abuses of the apartheid era. The Commission was wrapping up nine days of testimony about crimes attributed to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the former wife of : .President Nelson Mandela. i

THE NEW YORK TIMES

:FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1997

yet, one has to say that something went wrong -horribly, badly, wrong. What, I don't know,:, and none of us can ever be able to predict, for : you have to keep saying: "There, but for the ' grace or God, go 1." Something wrong, such that : many leaders had to be involved in seeking to : deal with a particular problem. ~·

lbere are people out there who want to , embrace you. I still embrace you because I love ·: you. I love you very deeply. There are many out :: there who would want to do so, if you were able : to bri~ yourself to say: "Something went:: wrong. Because all these leaders couldn't · · have been so agitated. And to say: "I am sorry. :· I am sorry for my part in what went wrong." ~

And I, I believe we are an incredible people. ~ Many would have rushed out in their eagerness .: to forgive and to embrace you. 1 beg you, I beg :: you, I beg you. Please. I have not made any r. particular finding from what bappened here. 1 ~ speak as someone who has lived in this commu- :; nity. You are a great person and you don't know -: h~w your greatness would be enhanced if you :: were to say: "Sorry. Things went wrong. For- · give me." I beg you. I

TUTU: Mrs. Madiklzela-Mandela is godmother to one of our grandchildren, who was baptized on the Sunday of Madiba's (Mr. Mandela's] release. When I was Bishop of Lesotho, 1 used to visit Mrs. Madikizela-Mandela. Well, maybe once or twice, in Brandfort. I have immense admiration for her and there is no question at all· that she was a stalwart of our struggle an icon of libe~ation, who was banned, haras~. under survelllance, banished .•.. ~e can never forget her outstanding contri­

bution to the struggle and her indomitable spirit. Everything was done to seek to break ~at spirit. And she was an incredible inspira­tiOn to many, and her contribution to the strug­gle can never be gain-said. She was the most apt representative for her husband ....

I acknowledge Mrs. Madikizela-Mandela has grown in the history of our struggle. And, and

----------~~·----~--~--------~~

It was, it was marvelous seeing Winnie as she · walki!d hand-in-hand with her tntsband then, : leaving Victor Verster Prison. . . . ~

I don't know that we will ever know all the · details of what it is that went wrong. Many,: many love you. Many, many say you should be~ where you ought to be - the first lady of this • country. What was I going to say to you had we : had this meeting, as a church leader? Because, • . when I came and we tried to have the meeting, · it was impossible to have the meeting, for you were not able to see us. You were studying, you said, at Wits. .

This is what I would have said to you .... 1 speak to you as someone who loves you very deeply, who loves your family very, very deep­ly. I would have said to you: "Let us have a public meeting." And at that public meeting for you to stand up and say: "There are things that went wrong. There are things that went wrong · and I, 1 don't know why they went wrong." i - .

MANDELA: I thank you all. Safe to say, thank you : very much for your wonderful, wise words, and ' that Is the father I have always known in you. 1 • am hoping it is still the same.

I will take this opportunity to say to the : family of Dr. Asvat how deeply sorry 1 am, and · to Stompie's mother, how deeply sorry 1 am. 1 have said so before, a few years back when the heat was very hot. I am saying it is true -•' things went horribly wrong. 1 fully agree with that and for that part of those painful years· when things went horribly wrong and we were aware of the fact that there were factors that I~ to that, for that I am deeply sorry. .•

\ ~

THE BOSTON GLOBE • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1997

Possible key witness in S. Africa

By Kurt Shillinger GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

JOHANNESBURG - A newly discovered and potentially devastat­ing witnesa has gone into hiding after talking to an investigator ana allegedly being int.intilW.ed by Win­nie Madikirela-Mandela.

Miebael Seakamela, a former driver for Madikizela-Mandela, was interviewed this weekend by the Globe and a leading investigator of South Afriea's Tnlth and Reeoncili­ltion Commission. In a one-hour in­terview, Seakamela alleged first­band knowledge of MadikireJs-M\n-

deJa's involvement in a kidnapping and assault and agreed to make a formal statement to the commission on the subject. He then went into biding.

When the . investigator finally contacted him yesterday, Seakamela said he had been threatened in per­son by Madikirela-Mandela at his house in Soweto within hours of the Globe interview on Saturday and that he was now too frightened to submit a statement. His where­abouts remain unknown.

Lawyers for Madikizela-Man­dela, the former wife of President Nelson Mandel&, deny their client

:saw her former ~river over t e weekend. i i

Seakamela's statement is consis- ' tent with the testimony of another witness implieating Madikizela-Man­dela in the disappearance and pre­sumed murder of a Soweto youth in 1988. Also, he made &.similar state­ment about the ease to poliee nine years ago but it was never .followed up.

"There is an obvious politieal cov­er-up of anything tbat could prove guilt in Mrs. Mandela," Dumisa Ntsebeza, ehairmail· of the commis­sion's investigative committee, said yesterday. Before the Globe inter- !

. .

hearing g~s into biding view, the Tnlth and Reconciliation Commission, which continued public hearings yesterday into Madikizela­Mandela's activities during the late 1980s, had ne~er contacted Seaka­mela. Panel investigators now say he is the most credible eyewitness yet identified, and his account, if true, begins to unravel a web of intimida­tion and suspected politieal conspir­acies that have shrouded the events in question for almost a decade.

Globe cOrrespondent testifies about South Africa interview

Throughout the hearings, which atarted last week and are expected to conclude tomorrow when Madiki­r.ela-Mandela takes the stand, the commission has brought forward a number of witnesses who were in­volved in the Mandela United Foot­ball Club, a band of youths organized by Madikizela-Mandela, ·which gained a reputation in Soweto for violence in the late 1980s.

Only a fraction of the testimony presented thus far could be used by the state against her beeause virtual- -

Kurt Shillinger, a freelance writer working for the Boston Globe, testified yesterday before the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, which is investigating the activities of Winnie Madiki­r.ela-Mandela.

Shillinger testified briefly about an interview he conducted over the weekend with Michael Seakamela, a witness to an al­leged abduction and disappear­ance of a youth in 1988 orches­trated by Madikizela-Mandela. Shillinger said the witness initial­ly had been eomfortable talking to him and a commission investi-

ly all of the witnesses with inside Madikizela-Mandela to release his knowledge of the football club and son; the assaulted boy's mother

. , Madikizela-Mandela's relationship bringing him a sweater because he ! with it have troubling legal histories. was shivering; and that the minivan · Many admit committing perjury in he drove was powder blue and white. previous trials or have been convict- Madikizela-Mandela refused to ed of various erimes. give up the boy, Seakamela says, and

Seakamela, however, appears un- he drove them back to her house. tainted. Born in Soweto 33 years That was the last time he saw Lolo ago, he eame to know Madikizela- Sono. When he returned for work Mandela through his brother Oupa, the next morning, there was no trace who fathered the first ehild of her of the youth. younger daughter Zindzi.ln Novem- Seakamela also said that nine ber 1988, he says, he worked for Ma- years ago, he gave a statement to dikizela-Mandela for roughly two the poliee on Madikizela-Mandela's weeks as her driver. It is then that abduction and assault of Sono. The he eame to know of a young man investigating police oftieer, a then­named Lolo Sono. Captain Fred Dempsey, verifies he

One afternoon, he reealls, he took the statement. drove Madikizela-Mandela and sev- No legal action followed in 1988, eral football club members to the when the events occurred, or in Sono home in Soweto. They collected 1991, when Madikizela-Mandela was Lolo, a teenager who had fallen in prosecuted for the abduction and as-with the elub a few weeks earlier. sault of four other youths. . The assault began almost immedi- South Afriean Commissioner of ately. Accused of being a poliee in- Police George Fivaz says there was Conner, Sono was beaten during the never enough evidence to prosecute. ride back to Madikizela-Mandela's ·But in a 1995 investigation diary en­house, and then again inside her ga- try, seen by the Globe, police investi­rage. Later that evening, they re- gator Henk Hesslinga writes: turned to Sono's home. "There vias a prima facia ease that

Seakamela's aceount follows Mandela was directly involved in the elosely a version of events given by abduction of Lolo Sono and Siboniso Sono's father Nicodemus. Seakamela Tshabala." recalls the elder Sono pleading with Klaus von Lieres, the attorney

gatDr. During the interview, Sea­kamela's brother, an associate of Madikirela-Mandela, warned him over the telephone not to talk. After the call, Shillinger stated, S.karnela WBB visibly nervous.

Shillinger also stated that a eemmiasion investigator bad told him that be bad talked to Seaka­mela by telephone yesterday. Seakamela told the investigator that Madikirela-Mandela and his brother arrived at his house hours after the Globe interview and threatened him not to talk about the incident.

GLOBE STAFF

general for the Johannesburg area during in the early 1990s, says he de­cided not to act on the Sono matter for political reasons. Madikizela­Mandela had just been convicted of kidnapping and assaulting four youths, including Stompie Moeketsi Seipei, in 1991. The government was negotiating a new constitution with Nelson Mandela and the African Na­tional Congress.

· ,. A second prosecution may have looked like deliberate harassment," he says.

The investigative file is now missing. Dempsey, Hesslinga, and H.T. Moodley, the three investiga­tors from the Soweto district in­volved in the Madikizela-Mandela­related. cases, say it is lost. The last known traee of it is a receipt for pos­session signed by Hesslinga on May 10, 1995. He did not testify as sChed­uled yesterday and has been unavail­able for comment.

A massive search for the file was eondueted over the weekend imme­diately after the commission beeame aware of Seakamela's statement.

"I have instructed everyone un­der me that they must assist the TRC," says Sydney Mufamadi, min­ister of safety and security. "This matter will not lie. They must find the doeket."

MU~RAY WILLIAMS examines the TRC's reparations process ' 7 .

"If wt arr to tnmscmd the past and build nationalllldty and 'J'IYOUt Is R23 000 per family per year for a maximum m:ondliation, wt must triSID't that those whost rlfhts havt period of slx years. The reparation aims to acknowledge bem violated arr acknowledged through acctSS to rrparation the suffering, enable access of services and facilities and and rehabilitation. •- TRC policy document - October 28, subsidise daily living costs. 1997 Community reparation: involves projects to

TIOUSANDS ~victims of political violence in waZulu Natal/ have submitted applications for ruth Comrnist;ion reparations- with the

December 14 <iut-off date for applications now just a month away.

The reparation process is designed to counterbalance the amnesty process.

The TRC believes that the granting of amnesty to perpetrators of gross human rights violations is so generous and comprehensive that, without equally generous and comprehensive reparation measures to alleviate the plight of the victims, the process would favour perpetrators over victims.

More than 4 200 people in the combined KwaZulu Natal-Orange Free State region have submitted applications to the TRC's human rights violations committee thus far.

Reparation is only to be awarded to victims who meet strict criteria. and may be awarded both before and after the completion 1 the commission's final report­depending on th urgency and nature of the victims' needs.

Two types of r paration are provided for: ::I Urgent inte 'm reparation This form ·will~the first to be delivered, primarily to

prO\ ide people i mediate access to services, eg: urgent access to medica treatment. Each victim is entitled to a maximum of R2 in order to meet these costs (relatives and de nctants are also entitled to this amount if in urge t need).

:I Final reparation measures lndi\idual repayation: the maximum possible cash

Jehabilltate communities -Including health care, mental health, education and bousirJ8 -to promote healing md recovery of Individuals and communities who have been affected by human rights violations.

Symbolic reparation-Legal and Administrative interventions: makes provision for tombstones, cultural ceremonies, appropriate street names, memorials, monuments, exhumations, expunging of criminal records and helping to obtain death certificates.

Institutional reparation: include legal, administrative and institutional measures designed to prevent the recurrence of human rights abuses.

The following steps are taken in the processing of submissions:

0 Statements are taken hom potential victims from commission staff.

0 Data is processed at the region's central offices in Durban, where case reference numbers are assigned.

0 All data is entered into a central computer. 0 All information is checked by corroborators.

Investigators are assigned to cases to retrieve post mortems, police case dockets, death certificates and conduct interviews.

0 All information is analysed by commissioners and reparations committee members, who make pre­findings.

The human rights violations committee is to make final findings next year.

The findings are to be tabled in the commission's final report, with recommendations for reparations.

The committee was guided by the principles of redress, restitution, rehabilitation, restoration of dignity and reassurance of non-repetition.

----------CASE STUDIES---------CASE 1: PRE-FINDINGS REPORT Victim: Mrs XXX (64 years) Date and place: ~0-XX-XX Port Shepstone, XXX area. Violation: Severe. i.-treatment (arson)/ associated

violation (theft)/killir;ag (burned to death) Reason: Because her husband (70 years) was an IFP

member. Political context: ANC people were demanding IFP

people support the ANC. Those who were IFP members were attacked and killed.

Summary: XXX and XXX and a group of unknown people came to the deponent's house and removed all the furniture. They the" set the house alight. Two rondavels were burned ~o the ground. The deponent and her husband were then !ed to an open spot near XXX school. The victim was set alight. A tyre was put around his neck, petrol poured on him and he was left to bum. The deponent was forced to look at her husband bum. She was later instructed to run wway.

PERPETRATOR(S) Name: XXX Organisation: ANC Weapon:-Notes: Placed the tyre and poured petrol on the

deceased. \ Last seen: - · Witness(es): Rev XXX Eye witness: No

, Corroborative documents attached: Deponent's \ ID/Death certificate/Post mortem docket , PRE-FINDING

Harm suffered: Emotional Urgent interim reparation: Emotional/Material

CASE 2: PRE-FINDINGS REPORT Victim: Mrs XXX

Date and place: Dec 1993-Feb 1994 Ladysmith VIOlation: Severe ill-treatment (Through substantial

materialloss/arson)/abduction/murder (shot in the forehead)

Political context: There was political intolerance between IFP and ANC. There was an IFP rally on the day in question.

Summary: On XX December 1993, her husband's store was looted by unknown IFP members. In February, 1994, her grandchildren, XXX and XXX, were playing cards when they were told to run as there were a group of IFP people coming towards them. They were abducted by unknown SAP and IFP supporters. Mrs XXX was forced to watch while the IFP shot in the forehead and killed XXX (grandson). Again on XX (a week later) her house was looted and burned and she fled to XXX where she still lives.

Corroboration: According to CR XXX (South African Police records), there was a rally on 1993-12-XX and +/-200 people went .on a rampage.

Corroborative documents attached: Deponent's ID/post mortem docket/photos/incident sheet CR XXX

PRE-FINDING Harm suffered: Emotional/physical Urgent interim reparation: Medical/material PRE-FINDING NOTES Mandate period: 1 March 1960-10 May 1994 Motive: Human rights violations must have been

politically motivated. Gross violation: Killings/abductions/severe ill­

treatment/torture/any attempt or conspiracy to commit any of the aforementioned

Reasonably true: Decided on balance of probabilities -as with civil cases.

The commission made the information available with all relevant names, addresses and personal details deleted.

'\

"CMax • pr1son

hatched in secret Marion Eclmuncls

P retoria's controversial high-se­curity CMax prison was kept secret from key Department r1

Correctional Services officials untn a wookb&o~ttwaspmmw~m~ for fear it might provoke protests. ·

Even correctional service's head of prisons, chief deputy commis­sioner of functional services Timo­thy Khoza, had not heard about CMax until just before it opened. Khoza was national commissioner Khulekani Sitole's deputy.

Khoza has now ~tired, although he was asked by Minister of Correc­tional Services Sipo Mzimela w stay on until next year. He refused to comment this week on his reasons for going early, saying only: "Some times there are things that people must not talk about."

Mzimela is reported w have told the parliamentary portfolio com­mittee last month that he could not risk discussmg the project before im­plemen tation.

"If you thiDk what you are doing , is good, you act first and apologise later. The reason why we could not develop the mine-shaft prison idea was that we said it first. We learned from that," he said.

The Black Sash's Sheena Duncan has called for Mzimela's sacking. "If this report about the minister is trUe, then he is totally unsuited for this or any other Cabinet post. Before he does any more damage in ~t to human rights in this country, he must be removed."

Neither Mzimela nor Sitole was available for comment this week.

In an earlier rebuttal of criticism, Mzimela boasted: "CMax - and,

when they come into existence, the super-maximum prisons -are the best things that could happen in the criminal justice system at this stage. Our society and our prison systems are being brutalised by people who show no respect for other people's lives or property."

CMax, however, offers scant re­spect for the dignity and well-being of its inmates. The international or­ganisation, Human Rights Watch, has written to Mzimela complainmg that the solitary confinement im­posed in CMax contravenes inter­national human rights conventions.

CMax prisoners are kept for 23 hours out of24 in solitary confine­ment, with only an hour per day out for exercise and a short shower. Mz­imela has denied this is solitary <.:on­finement, and described it as "tight

; security". · CMax prisoners are not allowed

to smoke, shave with razors, watch television. talk or associate with oth-

er inmates or ~ive contact visits. CMax, however, is becoming an

embarrassment to the government. Local human-rights groups say they are outmged, not only at the condi­tions in the prison, but also at the lack of consultation with stakehold­ers befo~ it was set up.

T he Human Rights Commis­sion has now visited the prison twice and remams dis­

satisfied with the way it is run, the criteria used to place prisoners.ln it and the philosophy behind it.

Commissioner Jody Kollapen said: "CMax serves as a tool of black­mail for prisoners who are not there, but I don't see how CMax is going to assist in stopping escapes."

Kollapen added that the commis­sion had not yet decided whether to litigate against the prison. He said many prisoners had complained bit­terly to him about the conditions un­der which they were kept, and could

not understand why they were there. He said they claimed their com­plaints went unheeded. The~ is no formal appeal system for prisoners inCMax.

One of the 18 prisoners held in CMax, Andre Loubser, is serving an 11-year sentence for fraud. He tried to escape from prison last year, but does not believe his escape attempt justified the CMax treatment. He has briefed attorneys who are also con­sidermg court action.

"The intention behind CMax is basically to try and punish prison­ers and to take away their rights. The mtention is to keep them secure and to pretend to the public that cor­rectional services is playing a part in lowering the crime mte," said Je­remy Sarkin, a national executive committee member of the Human Rights Committee.

Former apartheid security cop Eugene de Kock is also battling to understand why he has been placed

in CMax. Mzimela told parliamen-1 tarians'it was for his own safety. His

lawyer has denied this to be a valid reason.

CMax is meant to be a pilot pro­ject for four new high-security pris­ons, super-maximum prisons, which tbe department wants to build.

Correctional services represen­tative Barry Eksteen confirmed this week that the department was . briefed about the prison just seven days befo~ it was put into operntion two months ago. He said a select group of about 20 people had been in the know, but would not say who.

"There is nothmg smister about that You can't brief30 000 staff mem­bers on every project," he said.

Eksteen refused to disclose . which advisers and senior officials Mzimela and Sithole ~lied on m de­veloping CMax. Much of the inspi­rntion reportedly came from maxi­mum-security prisons in the Unit-

! ed States.

,, '

'Opposition parties are preparing to use the death penalty to whip the ANC. Will theANC be able to withstand the pressure, asks Marion Edmunds

A puiitit'al ft,.:ht on•r tlw dt•ath pt•nalty is bn•wing bt•tween the African Na· tiona! Congress and op·

IMblltullJJaJ1tt"S um•m whit'h ANC lt·;uh•r,.htp tinds itself at odds with maJorttY opinion. As the state tails "'tight crinw. and the realtty of the 1!1!1!1 elt.'t'llons dawns. so opposition panit.'S an• amplifying the cry from till' "II'"~' for tht• state to implement tht• death penalty, at most. and, at least. to allow the people to decide.

First the United Dl.'mocratic Mo\'ement called for a reli.•rendum on capllal punishment: then Na· uonal Party strongman, Western Cape Premier Hernus Kriel, asked fur a provincial ballot,

this issue is strdtegically clever, but at the same time morally indefunsible, because, like Vander Merwe, most op­position party leaders are personally doubtful that imposing the death penalty will actually reduceaime lev­els. The NP and the IFP say they are driven by the raw gut feelings of their <2lUCUS and angry constituents in this, and have not done party political re­search on the matter.

The Pan African Congress and [)e.

mocratic Party leadership is still strongly opposed to the penalty, but both are anticipating controversy about it within their ranks before 1009.

The Freedom Front's General Con· stand Viljoensays: "I think the call is

and now the lnkatha 'Can the ANC ~)-eedum Pany has called lor a referendum, after heatt·d caucus discus· ~tons, to provide guidance

a message to the govern­ment from all political parties and the govern­ment will ignore it, and it will affect the elections. We are asking for it be­cause the call has politi­cal value."

for the ;,tate. "Prople feel that crime

ha~ bloomed since the ,.aapplllg of the death

afford to say to the majority of the people: you are wrong and weare right?'

venal!~· in 1990. As this has to do With a ba;.ic right, we feel that it is better for the public to decide," says the I FP's chief whip Koos van der Merwe.

"The ANC is frightened of losing the n·ferPndum. It hides behind its cwbtllullunaluy aJ'b'lUnenL'>. Can the A~c· atlord to ~y to the majority of tht· pt·ople: you are wrong and we a~·e n~,;ht''"

"I don't know tf. scwnttl'ically 'Jwaktng, the death J..Cnalty wtll a<:· 1 u;,JI' \\ urk. but the t·lecturaw b call· tilt,; fur 11. so let us ha\'e the relen,n· dum lwlun· tht' .,h,etions so the ANI' t·;ut gt·t •• guod htding," ht• "''ys.

Sl!lmg With majority optnwn un

Justice Minister Dul-lah Omar says there was

a similar surge of support for the death penalty in the United King­dom. but British political parties came to an a1,>reement not to make it a divisive political issue.

It would suit the ANC to strike such a bargain here. because its Achilles heel is iL<> inability, as a gov· ernment, to fight crime, and the death r..cnalty calls throw that into sharp relief.

The ANC's arguments for resist· ing the death J..cnalty are both logi­cal and idealistic.

Omar says a referendum would be tantamount to undermining the Con,titution. "Our Constitution has placed certain values beyond the

reach of a temporary majority, whether it be a Parliamentary ma­jority or one gained from a referen­dum," he says. "If we were to revert to the majority principle, that would require scrapping the constitution­al framework, which prohibits strict majoritarianism on a range of is­sues. If there is a referendum, it must be on whether or not we retain the Constitution, with its protection for its minorities, or move away to sim­ple majority rule."

Omar also rests his case on in­ternational research proving that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime.

The world has not yet reached consensus on the matter. A hundred countries have abolished the death penalty and 94 still use it. The trend, however, is towards abolition. Most Western European countries have abolished it; many of the newly in­dependent Eastern European states have retained it but carry out fewer and fewer executions. Middle East­ern and North African states have largely kept it. The most aggressive defenders ofthe state's right to use capital punishment are the United States, China, Singapore and Sudan.

Sadly, many South Africans have gone past logical thought on the death penalty, moving into the realms of de­spair and revenge, because they be­lieve the state has failed them.

The !,'TUesome nature of many as­saults serves to intensify the despair and fear. This week, for example, the media told how burglars had poured boiling water over a young Pretoria couple, Ootren and Maligay Naidoo, and burnt them with hot irons, after kicking, beating and choking them, to make them open their safe. The

MAIL & GUARDIAN

burglarS torttired with a tree hand, ences Research Council, says the stopping just short of murder, but ANC is in a tight spot. what punishment is fitting for such "I think the ANC has painted it­cruelty? Maligay Naidoo is in hos: self into a comer by defining this as pi tal in a critical condition. a human rights issue, which it is not.

The rise of Pagad - People I think it was a mistake that this AgainstGangsterismandDrugs-is matter was dealt with by the Con­the most tangible sign of this despair stitutional Court rather than by the and fear. Almost in self -defence, a government, as the government has community of people took arms and not given itself space to interrogate reclaimed the death penalty as the ul- this question. What it will find is that timate punishment for sinners the issue of the death penalty will against society. provide a continued irritation. But

Omar suggests that Pagad has re- there will be great resistance to bow-· formed its stance on revenge mur- ing to this pressure. ders. Cassiem Parker, Pagad's West- "As long as there is debate with­ern Cape legal roordinator, says Pa- out the ANC, the ANC will continue gad continues to support the death to resist the temptation. I think it will penalty. . becomeanissueonceitis

"Whichever way you 'The ANC has raised within. Winnie look at it it's a travesty of • Madikizela-Mandela has, justice that the death painted itseH but nobody has taken it penalty was passed into a •omer up yet." through the Constitu- by defining this The vehemence with tiona! Court the way it as a human which Madikizela-Man-was," Parker says. rights issue' dela's call for a referen-

"ln every Western dumwasdenied,suggests Cape suburb there is at the ANC wants to keep a least one family that has had to en- lid on death penalty discussions. But dure the pain of somebody being opposition parties claim the majority killed, and then in front of her door of ANC parliamentarians support the every day the murderer taunts a death penalty. They will have to wait grieving mother, saying: 'So, I killed until next month's ANCconference your son. So what?' It's only when to see whether this support has con­people know there is a possibility of solidated into a powerful lobby. capital punishment, that they will If ANC MPs and branches listen· take heed of other people's rights." to reason, the Constitution will re-

Omar admits that explaining the main supreme; if they listen to their Constitution to relatives of mur- supporters, the ANC will be forced dered victims is difficult. to bring back the gallows, and the

"When you talk to victims those new constitution will be undermined answers will be brushed aside be- -by the crudeness of public opin­cause it does not satisfy the deep ion and the government's sensa­anger," he says. tional failure to jack up the criminal

Political analyst Vincent Maphai, justice system and provide a solu­executive director at the Human Sci- tion to the scourge of crime.