Zuma+was+a+victim+of+conspiracy,+Jon+Qwelane,+News24

News24, Johannesburg, 15/05/2006 10:51 - (SA)
=Zuma //was// a victim of conspiracy!=


 * by Jon Qwelane**

The easiest thing for me in the world right now would be to don my hobnailed boots and stomp on the mushy brains of most of you.

I could gloat, boast, toast, and shout triumphantly: "I told you so, didn't I? uMsholozi is the victim of the dirtiest conspiracy yet dreamed by some elements in this country - the very people who are systematically abusing organs of the state and also abusing their powerful positions."

Indeed at another time I would be asking the tens of thousands of warped white racists among the readers of this column, and their few hundred black lackeys, to offer me their unqualified apologies.

But, knowing very well the sort of people they all are, I will not bother with asking for useless Judas gestures and crocodile tears.


 * A non-story**

At the outset of the Zuma "rape" smear, I stated in this column that true and honest journalists, the moment they heard of the allegation, and particularly taking into account the anti-Zuma current of that time, would immediately have investigated Zuma's accuser before rushing off to create sensational headlines and stories over a non-story.

I said they ought to have checked whether she had a history of accusing men of "raping" her, to find out if she had any past boyfriends who could be interviewed about the sort of person she was, and establish the facts before rushing off to print.

This especially because a cabinet minister himself planted the "story" for the newspapers and the police later added to the mess, circumspection and caution.

Thorough investigation ought to have been the guiding principles of covering this whole saga, but the newspapers, instead, could not wait to sensationalise the filth and, in the process, smear uMsholozi even more.

Why spoil a juicy, great smear with a little thing like caution?

Trial-by-media was still in its infancy during the days of one [|Bulelani Ngcuka] as head of the NPA and the Scorpions; it reached full adulthood with the Zuma "rape" case.


 * My own investigations**

When I posed those questions to the media, I also told you that I was going to do my own investigations. As soon as I knew the accuser's name and her background as a former exile, a few rudimentary checks with other former exiles yielded a rich harvest.

Tracking down her immediate past in the dozen or so years since her return was also fruitful.

By the time I had learned of her many "rape" claims, the trial had started. My deep respect for the sub judice rule prevented me from commenting on the merits of the case, especially on evidence that might be led - unlike some newspaper editors and their many so-called "experts" who were brought in primarily to intensify the slur.

The accuser's sordid past of lies was no big secret, and a few well-aimed questions would have informed the so-called "news" papers, sensation mongers each one of them, what was very common knowledge.

A certain Treatment Action Campaign leader accused me of abusing my column to "break the law", all because I suggested that the woman's claims and past be scrutinised.

Just a fortnight ago, a pathetic letter from a white person landed in my mail box: "As a lawyer and a South African, I despair at your views."

Well, as a South African I totally despair at such lawyers, but otherwise feel glad and comfortable in the knowledge they will never represent me at anything.


 * Guilty guilty guilty!**

And, of course, the bulk of racists and their coconut lackeys all descended upon my head like the proverbial ton of bricks, each one of them finding uMsholozi "guilty of rape" even before Judge Willie van der Merwe had heard and assessed all the facts.

The media, my critics, the NPA, that ubiquitous crazy crowd known as "spokespersons" of women's groups, and the so-called legal and political "experts" all ignored the foundation stone of our criminal justice system, namely, that a person is presumed innocent until proved otherwise.

Those self-proclaimed adherents to the rule of law had no problem throwing it all out the window - why let sane and sound constitutional principles get in the way of a good smear?

There is a useful phrase common to all the Sotho and Nguni dialects: Ba swabile, which means, loosely translated, "they have bitten the dust".

However a not-so-diplomatic chap stated emphatically after the Monday verdict: Ba nyile!, which is a much stronger version of biting the dust.

The "spokespersons" - Lisa Vetten, Delphine Serumaga, Nomboniso Gasa and others - claim that women, as a result of the resounding "not guilty" judgment - will now fear reporting rape crimes.

That's a load of cobblers, a lot of unmitigated nonsense. What they mean but are not saying is that women who lie to incriminate innocent men will now fear even more taking such chances. Their little shining angel lied, as the court ruled.

They claim that police investigations could have been more thorough, stupidly implying that Zuma would then have been convicted for what he never did.

Like their cohorts in the sensationalist newspapers, they seem to believe that one can manufacture evidence and news, and get away with it!


 * Trial by media**

This trial has now demonstrated once and for all the ruthless exploitation of the media by unprincipled politicians and their well-connected arse-lickers, and the gutless and unethical editors and their cartoonists is alive and kicking in South Africa.

Last Sunday, the day before judge van der Merwe's verdict, we all woke up to a sensational front page "story" claiming Zuma's accuser would be going into exile, out of fear of being killed.

On the day of judgment another banner headline screamed that the accuser's bags were already packed, and she would be leaving, again out of fear for her life.

One needs to question the timing of those reports, and the intention behind them. Whoever planted the "stories" in the papers did it to sway judge van der Merwe's decision.

It was nothing more than a last ditch attempt to believe that Zuma and his supporters were potential murderers and he therefore, should not be acquitted.

But they failed; ba swabile, ba nyile!

The NPA itself, purported source of the so-called exile reports, meekly pleaded after the verdict that the woman be allowed space to recover from her ordeal in peace. There was nothing about any "exile" from them at that stage.


 * Who paid for the accuser's flight?**

At any rate, who paid for the women's flight into supposed exile? Was it the honourable minister or two BEE millionaires who were once political prisoners, meaning that the accuser had been paid for a smear job well done.

State organs like the SABC, the NPA, the police service and the intelligence services have all been abused to fight dirty little battles between ANC factions in the so-called succession war.

And why did Thabo Mbeki, just days before the judgment, go to the Free State and punt his wish for a woman to be made the next president of the country?

He was obviously sensing the inevitable collapse of the conspiratorial house of cards, and no doubt was doing his bit to get people into an anti-Zuma mental frame. All of it as a way to pave the way to high office for his friend Bulelani Ngcuka's wife.

Last week I told you about another last ditch attempt by conspirators within the ANC national executive committee and their hurriedly arranged "off-the-record" meeting with a few hand-picked media cronies at a Johannesburg hotel.

The conspirators included three current cabinet members and a former minister who is now a big shot BEE beneficiary, like most of them.


 * No such thing as a Mbeki camp?**

A minister with false teeth and shiny black dye in his hair (obviously to disguise his greying head) was the loudest anti-Zuma speaker. He even denied there was such a thing as a Mbeki camp. What an outrageous cheek!

What this trial has clearly demonstrated is that certain media can no longer be trusted. Through their editors, reporters and cartoonists they found it very easy to be used in ANC inter-organisational battles, yet still glibly and falsely claim to uphold the constitution and the bill of rights. It is all one big lie.

The nebulous crowd of "experts" routinely trotted up by those news organisations all live in a Walter Mitty kind of world.

At best, they are enormous liars every single one of them (claiming to respect the constitution but very eager to jettison it in their hurry to condemn an innocent man even before the court pronounced its verdict) - and at worst they are all just a bunch of charlatans.

What will they say in the next few months when Zuma appears before the Durban high court in another false trial of fraud and corruption, which I have no doubt he will also win.

That other crazy motley crowd of "spokespersons" must ask themselves where they got it wrong. They sit in their swish offices, wearing designer labels, but are very much out of sync with many of the women they claim to represent.

Certainly the thousands of simple, unsophisticated, rural women who were outside the court did not care a hoot about "their" self-appointed spokespersons.

Finally, I think what this country now needs, and has needed for at least the past seven years, is leadership. Nice sounding rhetoric about "a new dawn" and "age of hope" are just hollow and meaningless platitudes.

We need sound and decisive leadership that is not beholden to any artificial little BEE millionaires, whose insatiable greed is the main reason things are in such a sorry mess.


 * Jon Qwelane's column is published each week on News24, courtesy of Jon Qwelane and the editor of Sunday Sun, which originally carried the article.


 * From: http://www.news24.com/News24/Columnists/Jon_Qwelane/0,,2-1630-1633_1933102,00.html**

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