Zuma+is+not+in+any+camp+and+he+seeks+justice,+Star



=Zuma is not in any 'camp' - and he seeks justice=


 * The Star, Johannesburg, Letters, January 25, 2006**

The fight against corruption has, in some ways, turned into a smokescreen behind which state resources seem to be used to advance causes no different to corruption itself.

Who exactly is in the "Zuma camp"? Or the "Mbeki camp"? Zuma does not have to belong to any "camp". He is an individual who believes he has been gravely wronged and he is seeking redress quite legitimately. That does not mutate him into a "camp" with the negative connotations that go with it.

He is fighting for his rightful place in the presidential stakes, not jostling to filch someone else's.

Even individuals who are sympathetic to his cause are not members of any "camp". They are normal citizens of a democratic society that hold justice and fair-play dear to their hearts.

Sticking a "Zuma camp" label on such people and degrading or dismissing them from office reveals an ominous trend towards the authoritarianism of old. There are signs that we are going down that slippery slope fast.

One Ashin Singh of Maritzburg, an operative of the Scorpions at the time, divulged information to the media in a desperate bid to protect innocent persons from wrongful prosecution and a possible miscarriage of justice regarding a massacre at Richmond.

For his humanitarian travails in the cause of justice he was harassed, arrested and charged, preposterously, with "defeating the ends of justice"!

How does Ashin's worthy action in promoting, at great risk, the cause of justice measure up to the many "leaks" to the media of confidential information, not with humanitarian motives but for the purpose of destroying reputations?

Frankly Singh ought to be commended for his bold action.

In similar high-handed fashion, three operatives of the NIA were labelled as belonging to the Zuma "camp" and summarily dismissed for doing what spooks are supposed to do. Their misfortune was they had stumbled upon an awful web of intrigue involving well-connected "untouchables" in the murky waters of intelligence gathering.

Why was similar punishment not meted out to those faceless functionaries who leaked confidential information to the media with the purpose of destroying the reputations of important persons such as Zuma?

Are we to believe that persons serving in the National Prosecuting Authority are above the laws to which even a deputy president must bend? And to which "camp" do these immune and unassailable souls belong?

Misuse of state organs and their resources as outlined above are distinct signs that the ghosts of the past have been resurrected to haunt us again.

La Lucia, KwaZulu Natal**
 * Bhan Mahabir


 * From: http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=225&fArticleId=3080572**

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