Selebi: A triumph of justice?

As the National Prosecuting Authority bask in the afterglow of having obtained a conviction against former top cop Jackie Selebi in Johannesburg on Wednesday, the time has come to put into perspective the price that was paid by South Africans in order to obtain it.

As things stand the former police commissioner is facing 15 years, for a conviction on corruption, handed down by South Gauteng High Court Judge Meyer Joffe subject to Selebi’s appeal proving to be unsuccessful.

In isolation I have no difficulty in accepting that a man who was in the position of police chief and head of Interpol and then accepts money from gangsters should be sent to prison for an extended period. That is undoubtedly the just reward for his conduct.

The problem arises when one looks at what is going on in Court 4C of the South Gauteng High Court. There the self-confessed murderers of mining magnate Brett Kebble are all about to walk away scot free because the prosecution team in Selebi were prepared to sacrifice those convictions — and more — in order to nail the former police chief.

In order to put pressure on Glenn Agliotti and thereby Selebi, deals were done which resulted in them obtaining Section 204 indemnities.

Not one deal but for all of them.

As someone who has practised as a criminal attorney for many years I can honestly put my hand on heart and say that I have never seen all the accused, other than the principle suspect, being indemnified. If I say that even two out of four would be laughed out of the control prosecutor’s office I’m understating it — he’d be swearing at me for even suggesting more than one be indemnified.

Accordingly the deals done in the Brett Kebble murder are — to say the least — mystifying.

Those Section 204s are legally binding and protect the perpetrators of murder and, as we are learning, many other crimes way beyond corruption. None of them will be convicted and none of them face a sentence of even a single day for crimes that dwarf anything Selebi is accused of.

Though it is a job well done by their attorneys it’s nothing short of disgraceful by those who agreed to it.

The war between the police and the Scorpions was an ugly, bitter conflict in which the interests of the country were the last thing on anyone’s mind. All that mattered was taking out the leadership of each other and South Africans just have to accept the consequences of it.

Today Selebi got 15 years in order to achieve it, tomorrow the worst type of murderers and drug dealers will be walking the streets courtesy of the people who obtained that conviction.

In context Selebi is not a triumph for justice but the price we have been forced to pay for allowing a vendetta to outweigh common sense or the interests of the country.

Please find below a link to a cartoon for your recent ‘Selebi: A triumph of justice’ post:

Jackie Selebi – Crime in South Africa CartOOn!