LETTER: Hypocrisy of highest order

Besides being devoid of any basis in fact, tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s attack on the judiciary was hypocritical in the extreme and flies in the face of her oath of office.

As a long-serving politician in the governing party, Sisulu has had far more opportunity than any ordinary South African to pass laws to improve the way the judiciary operates, and if she suspects there is impropriety afoot she has all the access and privilege, afforded her by the very constitution she seeks to trample on, to have such issues dealt with.

Failing to exercise her agency and do her job, and then calling judges by racial epithets, is hypocrisy of the highest order. Her conduct also indicates that she has forgotten her oath of office, which includes the duty to protect the constitution and institutions such as the judiciary from baseless attacks that go beyond robust criticism.

Referring to black judges in the most derogatory of terms is a familiar tactic to anyone who has observed the ANC in action when it comes to leaders of political parties who share their skin colour but not their political affiliation. In particular, DA leaders such as Solly Malatsi, Gwen Ngwenya and a host of others are frequently singled out for condemnation for following paths the high priests of racist identity politics in the ANC have deemed heretical.

This dangerous game, started by the ANC decades ago when Joe Seremane was elected to chair the then Democratic Party, has now lit a fire that threatens to the judiciary. With the ANC tearing itself to pieces and various factions attacking each other and the pillars of our democratic order, the addition of racist insult to an already volatile cocktail is the last thing that is needed.

The ANC had better do what it has never done before, rein in its members who fan the flames of racial identity politics. South Africans should know all too well where the path of racial conflict leads, and we don’t want to return there.

Brett Anderson 
Somerset West

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