Jacob Zuma and his ilk are correct when they ask, what exactly is “State Capture”? A term we are all too familiar with these past few years. It is true that in law there exists no such terminology and hence existing laws do not speak to it. 

However, it is commonplace and an acceptable norm that sedition and treason, which form the cornerstone of State Capture, do have a place within South African law.

Sedition is defined as “conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch”, whereas, treason is defined as “a crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance”.

Now, when one sets out to defraud the state and engage in corrupt practices in order to defraud the state, this is treason. When you incite persons in the executive arm of government to rebel against the authority of the state, such as when you engage in illegal tender allocation and/or stealing from the police, Eskom, SAA, Transnet and so on, these are treasonous acts. And yet we allow it to continue unabated. 

The tardiness of the judicial process is frustrating, to say the least, though things are happening.

When thinking of the ANC as a political party, I could not help but think about the difference between party political contestation for leadership positions on the one hand and, on the other, actively planning to overthrow the current sitting executive arm of government. Does the fault lie in the proportional representation electoral system, or is it because the Constitution is silent on matters such as recall?

I’m sure you will all agree with me that some people (comrades) sitting in smoke-filled rooms somewhere in the country discussing how best to unseat the current leadership at the next elective conference is allowed. After all, how else can one go about finding consensus and agreement on the next tier of leadership? However, it becomes a little trickier when those people in that same room are doing so because of ulterior motives.

Like, for instance, they all really would prefer not to go to prison in the coming months and hence they must rid themselves of the commander-in-chief. Or they want to recall the president prematurely from his term of office and/or come up with all sorts of trumped-up allegations and charges so as to warrant a vote of no confidence in Parliament.

At what point do we say that these acts no longer fall within the democratic practices of mere political contestation?   

The fact of the matter is that a very dangerous constitutional crisis has crept into the practices of the ANC. It all started in 2007/8 after the Polokwane national elective conference of the party. 

Former president Thabo Mbeki lost the leadership contest at that conference in 2007, but was still due to remain president of the republic for at least another 18 months before the next general election scheduled for 2009. 

The winning faction simply did not trust Mbeki and hence lobbied for his recall, meaning the national executive committee (NEC) of the ANC decided that a delegation must visit the state president and inform him that he no longer enjoys their confidence and that he is thus instructed to vacate his office and position.

Mbeki obliged even though it was just months before the next general election. Former president Kgalema Motlanthe thus occupied the position until the final vote was counted in that general election.

We saw a repeat of this practice in the ANC in 2018, when the ANC NEC decided to recall president Zuma, again with just months to go before the next general election. 

What this practice started inculcating in the ANC is that there can be no room for two centres of power, meaning a president of the ANC on the one hand and president of the republic on the other. There simply does not exist sufficient trust to allow such a power-sharing mechanism. This is most unfortunate.

Furthermore, on the sedition and treason aspects, we also see gross intimidation being meted out against the state by so-called MKVA veterans – most of whom, I might add, are clearly in their twenties and thirties. It reminds me of the so-called war veterans in Zimbabwe, most of them too were rather young to be classified veterans. The MKVA has held intimidating rallies and drunken marches, clearly stating that they will defend certain persons and principles even against state institutions.

They have now taken up positions outside Zuma’s homestead in Nkandla, indicating that they will not allow the former president to be arrested. In fact, they are prepared to die for Zuma. What is this action if not seditious and treasonous?

Zuma’s refusal to adhere to a court ruling is further testimony to treasonous acts. Lawlessness must be the order of the day. If Zuma can break the law then surely I also don’t have to wear a mask or adhere to the Covid-19 regulations?

Elements of the SA Police Services have been embroiled in numerous criminal activities, from selling guns illegally, raiding/stealing from the crime intelligence secret funds to massive tender irregularities. 

Let’s play out exactly what will be happening over the course of the next few days with regard to Zuma and his intransigence. 

First, he will refuse to appear in the magistrates’ court, then the court will issue a summons. Then, the former president will be asked to present himself to the nearest police station at which point he will be charged with contempt of court. What follows is an arrest warrant, at which point the fake MKVA soldiers will attempt to protect Zuma from the SAPS/Hawks and the NPA. A mini showdown will occur and that will be the end of that. 

Given our hard-learned lesson at Marikana, no live ammunition will be used unless police are fired upon. What is being described, if not sedition? An act whereby one conducts or delivers a speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.

At what point do we say that these acts no longer fall within the democratic practices of freedom of expression and movement?

But it does not stop there, oh no: we are then subjected to a tea party at Nkandla too. I have written about this before, but the fact of the matter is that these were discussions between persons over tea to see how does one embarrass the current president, and how does one undermine the State Capture commission, and how does one prepare political alliances to ensure that we have a common enemy in the person of Ramaphosa. Friendly conversation as we sip tea or something else? You be the judge.

Finally, I am also very worried about our security establishment in general and our civil-military relations in particular. We have already seen the exposé of all the shenanigans that went on at the State Security Agency. My thoughts go out to our current minister who came into office and found the mess there.

Elements of the SA Police Services have been embroiled in numerous criminal activities, from selling guns illegally, raiding/stealing from the crime intelligence secret funds to massive tender irregularities. 

In any society, we hope that the “democratic model” applies and that we can continuously rely on the independent nature of our security establishment, including our military, from these overt political matters. 

Samuel Huntington’s democratic model goes something like this: society is encased by its polity and further encased on the outer rim by the security establishment. In other words, society is protected by its polity with ideas and critical thought, whereas these are further protected by our security establishment from threats, foreign and domestic. 

The revolutionary model, Huntington tells us, is where the security establishment is at the centre of the state (usually undemocratic states, dictatorships or military juntas), they are encased by the polity, and society is but only on the outer rim (unimportant, so to speak).

Thus far, the one thing you cannot fault the ANC on is that throughout the democratic period it has consistently upheld the democratic constitutional order – never wavering. The military has, like our courts, demonstrated its commitment and independence not to a political party and/or individuals such as a president, but towards the Constitution of the Republic. Long may it stay so.

So, let’s not go through this period with blinkers on, but let us see these various actions for what they really are – sedition and treason. And let’s act against these decisively. DM