15 month jail sentence for asking a judge to recuse himself: Only an apartheid government would do this to a Black man – Mcebo Dlamini

By Mcebo Freedom Dlamini

In the first instance I want to say as black people we owe each other everything; lots of love, all the solidarity and all the honesty. That being said, whenever a black person is under attack by an enemy I choose to take the side of a black person. The contradictions between us are solvable but can we deal with the main antagonism first? Every family has a squabble... 

Former President Jacob Zuma

This is an ethic I have chosen to live by. In South Africa there is no doubt about who the enemy is. It is the gang with an arrival date of 1652. The people that arrived and violated us, took our land and exploited us in ways unprecedented. These people still continue to enjoy the spoils of their conquest, this we can't deny. Through their economic power they still control our people, our institutions and obviously our courts. 

Former President Jacob Zuma is undoubtedly an enemy of our enemy. There is no shadow of doubt that they never loved him. He has never fitted into the 'good' black category that they can tolerate. He is uneducated, takes pride in his culture, he doesn't appeal to their sensibilities. Remember he is the first person who made them uncomfortable, they left the comfort of their lavish homes to say Zuma must go.

If we are honest we know that there are currently two camps within the ANC. One has come to be known as the Thuma Mina, these are the ones who are 'approved' by whites, the ones who believe in privatisation. And then there is the other camp Radical Economic Transformation. This camp wants the land to be expropriated, state capacity. This camp is often persecuted, branded as corrupt and unlikable, especially to the media. 

Now that I've said this let me go straight to the point. Zuma is part of RET and thus not a favourite of the powers that be. He is not liked by the ruling class. The ruling class in South Africa is white people. They control wealth, politicians and institutions. They want Zuma in prison, not necessarily because he is corrupt but because he didn't bend to them and he is not their 'type'. 

Of course they have the power so they used the media to demonize him and now the courts to arrest him. We must remember that in a society such as ours the courts often, very often, serve the interests of the ruling class (emphasis white people). Now the problem with half educated blacks is that they think the law is neutral. It is not. The law is created and interpreted by people who are biased and often influenceable. These people are called judges.

We must be able to read into these nuances, know that politics permeate the law. Now I have not gone into the merits of the matter of which I could but I just wanted to highlight and emphasize how the matter is not just about a man who refused to go to court but much more complex than that. 

The people in defence of Zuma against an unrelenting witch hunt is a sign of beautiful solidarity. It shows how as blacks we have the capacity to unite against a common enemy. Of course my wish is that the same energy needs to be channeled to others issues we face. We need to unite to get back the land, against unemployment, poverty and access to education. It can be done. Black unity is a beautiful thing.