Mbeki must show the leadership he showed when he fired Zuma

Posted: October 12th, 2007 | By Ray Hartley | Posted in General | Tagged as , , , , , , ,
  • 10 Comments
  

YOU have to feel for chief government spokesman Themba Maseko.
Yesterday it fell to him to announce, explain and justify Cabinet’s decision to back the National Police Commissioner, Jackie Selebi, despite the fact that a search warrant and an arrest warrant against him have been authorised by the courts.
And, it is despite the fact that the acting head of the National Prosecuting Authority, Mokotedi Mpshe has suggested he should take a leave of absence while his case is investigated.
Maseko said: “Confidence in the commissioner still exists in government until such time as concrete evidence is put on the table. The review (by Mpshe) will be a very important step in that direction.”
And, he added: “The principle the president is making here is that allegations will be made against government officials, (but) he must apply his mind and reassure the country that he does not just wake up and take decisions based on unsubstantiated allegations.”
Which is curious given the President’s preparedness to take the drastic step of firing his then deputy, Jacob Zuma, based on a court judgement against someone else and the (at that time) possibility of future prosecution.
He was right to take action against Zuma and he would be right to take the more limited action of asking Selebi to take a leave of absence during the current investigation.
It would signal that he accepts that it is a serious matter for a senior law enforcement official to find himself under suspicion by a security agency.
The decision to back Selebi so unquestioningly appears defensive and is a strong signal to Mpshe that the President expects his commissioner to escape unscathed from the Scorpions investigation.
Mbeki showed leadership when he had to stand firm against Zuma. He inspired confidence with his decisiveness. The Selebi matter calls for more of the same.

Related posts:

  1. Mbeki, Ngcuka, Mlambo-Ngcuka, Pikoli, Shaik, Zuma, Selebi, Agliotti, Kebble, Masetlha explained
  2. Let’s go back to the day Mbeki fired Zuma
  3. Who will govern? Mbeki or Zuma?
  4. We need a full judicial inquiry into the arms deal
  5. Motlanthe must fire Selebi now

 

Comments

 

xolisa

October 12, 2007 at 4:42 pm

an man underlaw is not guilty untill proven guilty.

 

A.K

October 13, 2007 at 4:43 am

Xolisa, there are two men here.Which man are you talking about?

 

Janet

October 14, 2007 at 2:39 pm

If I hear the phrase ‘a man is innocent until proven guilty’ I think I will be afflicted by a severe bilious attack – what happened to this principle when people where being necklaced in the street?

 

MCALYS

October 29, 2007 at 1:02 pm

OF COURCE THERE ARE 2 MENS BUT EVERYONE KNOWS THAT ZUMA IS THE ONE WHO WAS FOUND NOT GUILTY

VIVA JACOB ZUMA “VIVA”
LONG LIVE THE NEXT COMING PRESIDENT “LONG LIVE”

ZUMA
J ZEE
GEDELIHLEKISAYO

 

Janet

October 29, 2007 at 1:56 pm

Not guilty by a Western slanted law for sure – but I wonder how he would have fared if he had been tried by a traditional African tribunal, who applied the ethics and morals of their ancient belief and justice system?

 

A.K

October 29, 2007 at 7:17 pm

So Maclays, you are in that camp.I like your 2 mens.

Janet, apartheid had created animals out of us.we ended up not knowing who the enemy was. What if you could not trust if your wife was working for BOSS.

Necklacing was a by product of apartheid.
In fact none is sperior when applied properly.Each is subject to abuse.Even the jewish law was subject to abuse and so Christ was killed.It has nothing to do with systems, all to do with human beings

 

Janet

October 30, 2007 at 6:10 am

Then AK, it is largely up to proud African men like you, to bring back the morals of your forebears.Certainly necklacing was a result of suspicion, but why such a cruel way of dealing with the suspects? Christ was tried by Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governer of occupied Jerusalem. Roman law (much the basis of the legal system here) could again, as in Zuma’s case be blamed for a miscarriage of justice!

 

ak

October 30, 2007 at 7:33 am

Jen,
Lets not go that way. Everybody by now knows that I have the longest and sharpest tongue in the Southern hemisphere. Let us not follow this line of argument otherwise I will lose my political constituency. It is rising you know and racially motivted talks my not advance my aims. Any way thanks for hat short tutorial which I credited Sarah for in most grievous error. The credit was yours. For the sake of peace let us walk away from this necklacing story. But if you insist and you sure you won’t cry you are most welcome.

Do me a favour on Friday I am taking Justice Molala head on.. you will see.watch my space. Just warn him.Otherwise he say I ambushed him.

 

Janet

October 30, 2007 at 11:20 am

AK – Of course we will forget about necklacing – I do not wish to cause you any more pain than you have already suffered. But I firmly believe that it is because of a person’s ‘class’ not their skin colour, that they are made to suffer. England, where I come from, is considered an advanced, developed country, but up until the second world war, the children of the working classes, were sent into ‘service’. That is, at the age of about 13 yrs. the girls were sent to be kitchen or laundry maids, and the boys grooms or gardeners, for rich people. They were paid a pittance, housed in cold attic rooms, worked from 5 in the morning to late in the evenening, with perhaps one day a month off. The master of the house often did what he liked with these girls (I do not have to explain you will understand). So let’s start thinking along class lines, not race!

 

Sarah Britten

November 13, 2007 at 6:02 pm

Apparently Tramadol is prescribed for moderate to severe chronic pain. How interesting that a punt for this drug should appear on a post devoted to our President.

Leave a Comment