South Africa does have the moral and intellectual capital to steer away from the abyss of failed state. But so many of the people who exemplify these qualities find themselves on the wrong side of the power divide. That is because they have blown the whistle on corrupt practises and the abuse of power and are now suffering retaliation. But inherent in that crisis is the opportunity for human rights to acquire meaning, and the Constitution to become more than mere text.
Anyone watching the presentation by whistleblowers of their statement in response to the Zondo Report, part one at their media conference last Friday, could not fail to be impressed at the calibre of people who have signed up to it. A normal society would see such people in leadership roles in the state, business and civil society. A normal society would not subject such people to the weaponisation of legal processes that serve only to enrich lawyers, deepen the contagion of corruption and impoverish our institutions.
This abuse of legal process is known variously as “litigation by attrition”, “lawfare” or “Slow suits” (for “strategic litigation on whistleblowers”). A normal society would not need for them to plead for protection and support after reporting and testifying on wrongdoing. That is what any normal citizen would do to honour the social contract between citizens and state. A normal society would never tolerate a corrupting international management consultancy still to belong to a national...
Police have applied for a bench warrant for YouTuber Jeon Han-gil (real name Jeon Yu-gwan), a former Korean history lecturer, on charges of defamation under the Information and Communications Netwo...