“We want to make an example of Etzebeth says the SAHRC” according to various news reports. Whatever happened in Langebaan on the night of 24 August and the early morning hours of 25 August 2019 in the Eben Etzebeth case, it is essential that the facts should be judged objectively and fairly and that action be taken accordingly. If any offensive language was used, this should be substantiated with the necessary proof and justice must take its course.
The crux of the matter, however, is that facts should be judged objectively and fairly. It is becoming increasingly clear that Etzebeth has become the eye at the centre of a perfect storm, spurred on by a group of individuals who became involved later. It is out of the question that the Human Rights Commission will handle the issue fairly and justly, and if anyone might still have doubts that the Human Rights Commission would act with balance and consistency within their mandate, this case should eliminate any doubts.
Even Beauty Dlulane, chair of the parliamentary portfolio committee for sport, arts and culture responded with criticism: “The matter was sensitive and needed to be handled with care. The matter could have been handled differently and SA Rugby and the Human Rights Commission should improve on dealing with matters of this nature. If there were grounds for prosecution, that ought to be decided by competent bodies and only after a rigorous process of establishing what had happened.”
If it were only the incompetence of the SAHRC, this would be one matter but then one should look at the role players who see the matter for what it is. It is an incident which has created a perfect storm – a renowned sportsman, who became involved in a quarrel in the midnight hours in a province governed politically by the DA and which is a huge prize for the governing party of the State, the ANC, and the home of a great many politicians with aspirations.
- Both the HRC Commissioners Gaum and Nissen are former ANC-politicians. Both have trodden the dust of roads in Langebaan in the past few days in an attempt to get the maximum publicity. Gaum was in Langebaan before Nissen, however, and apparently this did not go down well. It seems that Nissen was probably not kept informed about the agreement of the SAHRC with Etzebeth and his attorneys, and Etzebeth seems to be in the middle of a dispute between the two former politicians. Hence the thrust by Nissen and others to get the matter urgently before the Equality Court. There can be no other explanation for the inept chopping and changing about the issue!
- The West Coast activist and former ANC councillor, Sammy Classen, who vents his ire daily in the media, is notorious for his aspirations and for “smelling out alleged racism”. He resigned from the ANC in 2018 after alleging that racist comments had been made by a senior black ANC leader in the province and then he was gradually marginalised.
– Adv. Buang Jones, the suddenly deeply involved and outspoken national head of the SAHRC’s legal department, who has now personally addressed the worried Langebaan residents and is making accusations left and right and has already convicted Etzebeth through public opinion, is definitely not so innocently “involved in the vanguard for Human Rights”. What better platform than the Etzebeth case could one ask for if your name is currently on the short list for Deputy Public Protector? Then you would do anything to build a profile which could favourably impress the decision makers when considering the appointment. His prejudice has been placed on record by his many statements, and any fair process has already expired under his leadership. According to Jones’s absurd statement, “Etzebeth even gets away with murder.” The fact that Chris Nissen is referenced in his supporting resume in his nomination (September 19, 2019) for Deputy Public Protector speaks volumes.
– And the poor Prof. Bongani Majola, chair of the Human Rights Commission? He was appointed to the position in 2017 by former president Zuma after being one of five people on the short list to become Public Protector. He had to beat a retreat against the extremely incompetent Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who was then appointed as Public Protector. He is still licking his wounds and must now try to restore his lost esteem. Where better than as chair of an incompetent constitutional Chapter 9 institution which has to compete daily with the Public Protector for weakest and most incompetent constitutional institution?
Where does this leave the Human Rights Commission in general? Compare the haste with which the South African Human Rights Commission descended on the teacher and the school in Schweizer Reneke at the beginning of the year. There is still no word after their investigation locally. What became of Ashwin Willemse’s SuperSport debacle in June 2018? The Human Rights Commission would have had a public hearing into the matter earlier this year, but it was postponed. We are not even speaking here about the many charges against other politicians such as Malema and parties such as the BLF. The Etzebeth case which has been driven with unseemly haste in little more than a month, shows just how a constitutional institution that has been captured by individuals with their own ambitions, can be abused.
We have previously taken the stance that the Human Rights Commission’s record of action against hate speech and racism remains suspect and in no way testifies to consistency. Over the past few years the Human Rights Commission has clearly demonstrated that the constitutional institution is unable to fulfil and enforce its constitutional duties. In some cases, the Human Rights Commission has been very quick to make statements about rights that have been violated, but when this is politically risky, individuals can play fast and loose with the Human Rights Commission. The SAHRC has marginalised itself as an institution which matters in the area of maintaining and promoting Human Rights, and has already lost all credibility.
The Afrikanerbond’s complaints against Mr Julius Malema lodged with the SAHRC in 2010 must serve as an example. The Human Rights Commission did hold a public hearing on 28 November 2011 but it was postponed pending the judgment of the Equality Court and would have resumed again to make a ruling. To date and in spite of various letters and appeals to the SAHRC, no ruling has been made yet and unfortunately it has created a precedent for public representatives to go ahead with making irresponsible statements and remain unpunished.
The Human Rights Commission has shown clearly in the past year that this Chapter 9 constitutional institution is not complying with its constitutional duties. The Human Rights Bill is not being enforced consistently, nor is it being judged equitably. Unfortunately, the SAHRC has so far been a disappointment in its role as guardian and protector of the Human Rights Bill. In various letters to the SAHRC we requested that public representatives in particular should be called to order but the SAHRC is glaring in its absence in respect of carrying out its constitutional task and mandate.
On 13 December 2018 we wrote a letter to President Ramaphosa, requesting urgent intervention in a process with which the national parliament had been dragging its feet since 2007 with the Report of Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of Chapter 9 and Associated Institutions, 21 August 2007 (the so-called Asmal report) as well as a review of the process in 2017, which had borne no fruit either. We also requested the President to initiate a process urgently which would review the South African Human Rights Commission’s mandate and activities, as well as to address the serious shortcomings and lack of effectiveness of this statutory Chapter 9 constitutional body. We had not yet received any response from the President and in the meantime, the Human Rights Commission is sparring around with the Public Protector in a sea of incompetence, the inability to carry out their mandate consistently, and the promotion of personal political interests and ambitions. Just like the Public Protector, the SAHRC is becoming a greater embarrassment for themselves daily.
Jan Bosman
Chief Secretary of the Afrikanerbond
