[DEBATE] : Re: Fwd: TAC statement on verdict in Jacob Zuma trial

[Peter Mahlangu]

Dominic, I remember it was posted on the website of
IOL that COSATU Gender Unit called for the reversal of
the onus of proof in rape trials, and, to my
knowledge, COSATU or the Alliance never reprimanded
the COSATU Gender Unit for this.

--- Dominic Tweedie <hypercube at telkomsa.net> wrote:

> Russell, you are inadvertently spreading a false
> rumour, I'm afraid.
> 
> The position of the Alliance as a whole, including
> the ANC, SACP and COSATU,
> has been consistently to say: "innocent until proven
> guilty".
> 
> There have been many attempts to disinform people
> about this. One was the
> Western Cape phoney story you refer to. Another was
> Steven Friedman's
> article last month which Blade Nzimande responded to
> with an article,
> whereupon Raymond Suttner wrote a letter, and so
> forth and so fifth.
> 
> But the position of the Alliance has never wavered,
> and by the way it
> remains fully in force, because there is another
> Zuma trial to come, don't
> forget.
> 
> This has been an honourable position and something
> to be proud of. People
> were taking pot-shots at us all along and from all
> points of the compass but
> we didn't flinch and we were never provoked into
> violating our no comment,
> innocent until proven guilty stance.
> 
> Now, we are in a very strong position indeed because
> we were principled
> about this matter, and we were seen to be so.
> 
> As for TAC; COSATU and the SACP in particular have
> been their main political
> backers (as distinct from their overseas funders).
> Hence the point of my
> question.
> 
> In other words I am asking: Is TAC supporting the
> Alliance position or is it
> turning on its own allies?
> 
> It is unfortunately not clear. The mention of One in
> Nine (a special purpose
> vehicle for the anti-Zuma campaign, as their web
> site makes clear) inclines
> one to think one thing, but the other meaning is
> also possible.
> 
> The inherently repressive tendency of the liberal
> bourgeoisie is an ongoing
> situation and not at all absent from this list. It
> is nothing new. For
> example the (fictional) doctrine of "Constitutional
> Supremacy" is formally
> ten years old this week. It is fictional because the
> actually-existing class
> dictatorship of the bourgeoisie is transparently
> obvious. So it is a
> bourgeois class "supremacy", not a piece-of-paper
> one or a judicial one.
> 
> But the subordination of the bourgeois-democratic
> parliament to the grey
> eminences is explicit. The contempt for people's
> democracy or power to the
> people, is directly stated. Repression based on
> "Constitutional Supremacy"
> is latent. It sits there like the Divine Right of
> Kings, except that in this
> case the Parliament is a dead duck politically.
> 
> There is a big idea. It is the old mole, revolution.
> Never far away.
> 
> Domza.
> 
> 
> 
> Web site at: http://amadlandawonye.wikispaces.com/
> Blog at: http://domza.net/
> Subscribe for free e-mail updates at:
> http://groups.google.com/group/Communist-University/
> Library of documents at: http://cu.domza.net/
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: debate-bounces at lists.kabissa.org
> [mailto:debate-bounces at lists.kabissa.org]On Behalf
> Of Russell
> Sent: 10 May 2006 10:31 PM
> To: debate: SA discussion list
> Subject: [DEBATE] : Re: Fwd: TAC statement on
> verdict in Jacob Zuma trial
> 
> Nothing surprises that much any more. Those who once
> might have been
> expected to display at least a few progressive
> impulses are now baying for
> more repression and controls. Didn't the Western
> Cape region (I think) of
> Cosatu recently call for the reversal of the
> tradition of innocence until
> proven guilty in rape cases? Is this not just the
> logical conslusion of
> calls to alter the adversarial nature of rape cases?
> 
> Could it be that as tendencies to fragmentation grow
> amongst the political
> elite/new middle class (as manifested in the whole
> Zuma affair) and the lack
> of any political "big idea" becomes obvious, the
> inherently conservative and
> repressive nature of their politics is starting to
> manifest itself?
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dominic Tweedie" <hypercube at telkomsa.net>
> To: "debate: SA discussion list "
> <debate at lists.kabissa.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 9:41 PM
> Subject: [DEBATE] : Re: Fwd: TAC statement on
> verdict in Jacob Zuma trial
> 
> 
> Can anyone give clarity on the following line from
> the TAC statement:
> 
> ...(under the banner of the One in Nine Campaign)...
> "Mobilisation to end
> social tolerance of rape with guarantees that all
> accused are innocent until
> proven guilty."?
> 
> Does it mean that TAC wants to end the principle of
> innocent until proven
> guilty?
> 
> Or does it mean that they want to guarantee that
> accused are innocent until
> proven guilty?
> 
> The sentence seems to me to be capable of either
> construction.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Web site at: http://amadlandawonye.wikispaces.com/
> Blog at: http://domza.net/
> Subscribe for free e-mail updates at:
> http://groups.google.com/group/Communist-University/
> Library of documents at: http://cu.domza.net/
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: debate-bounces at lists.kabissa.org
> [mailto:debate-bounces at lists.kabissa.org]On Behalf
> Of Richard Pithouse
> Sent: 10 May 2006 10:23 AM
> To: debate at lists.kabissa.org
> Subject: [DEBATE] : Fwd: TAC statement on verdict in
> Jacob Zuma trial
> 
> 
>       TAC accepts verdict, concerned at judge's
> reinforcing of
>       patriarchal prejudices in framing his
> judgement
> 
> 
> The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) accepts Judge
> Van Der Merwe's
> statement that the state did not succeed in
> establishing guilt beyond
> reasonable doubt in the case of alleged rape of his
> family friend and
> daughter of a comrade. The Judge criticized the
> police for their shoddy
> investigation. It is tragic that this is true in
> thousands of cases of
> rape in our country.  A lack of empathy with victims
> of violence, police
> sexism and a lack of resources hamper police
> investigations in most cases.
> 
> Judge Van Der Merwe could have made a finding of
> not-guilty for Zuma
> without dehumanizing the complainant and resorting
> to patriarchal
> prejudices and stereotypes of women who allege rape
> as pathological. For
> those in our country who already hold these
> attitudes towards women,
> such utterances by a judge can only serve to
> legitimize their unjust
> beliefs. These utterances can also serve to confirm
> the belief by many
> women who have survived rape that our country's
> justice system is biased
> towards men and treats women as unequal citizens.
> 
> Former Deputy President Zuma and all accused have a
> right to be presumed
> innocent until proven guilty. The court process has
> found him innocent.
> We understand the pain his family, comrades and the
> former
> Deputy-President faced. But we also work with
> countless women who
> struggle to get a complaint heard.
> 
> Regrettably, the former Deputy President has failed
> to condemn violence
> and vilification of women carried out in the name of
> his defense by the
> Friends of Jacob Zuma. This is an assault on the
> dignity of every woman
> and rape survivor. It also undermines the integrity
> of men who do not
> support violence against women.
> 
> Despite his patriarchal positions on women and sex,
> Judge Van Der Merwe
> pointed out that former Deputy-President acted
> irresponsibly towards
> himself, his family, the woman he had sex with in
> the context of
> tragically high rates of HIV infection in our
> country.
> 
> The Former Deputy President's position on gender
> reflects the sexism
> which continues to plague our society and drives our
> HIV epidemic. Such
> views are not acceptable in any man, much less a
> leader who fought for
> freedom and equality.
> 
> It is indeed tragic that someone who led SANAC and
> the country's "moral
> regeneration" campaign has made the kinds of
> utterances he has on HIV.
> One of the biggest challenges facing HIV prevention
> efforts in our
> country is people's ability to internalize their
> personal risk to
> infection and act accordingly. It is therefore sad
> to note through this
> trial, that Mr. Zuma did not perceive himself at
> risk of infection.
> 
> TAC calls on all women, civil society, the unions
> and government to
> unify under the banner of the One in Nine Campaign,
> immediately to ensure:
> 1.proper investigation of all rape cases and the
> ending of the current
> backlog
> 2.The protection of the dignity of all complainants
> of rape,
> particularly women
> 3.The passing of the Sexual Offences Bill with
> appropriate amendments
> 4.Mobilisation to end social tolerance of rape with
> guarantees that all
> accused are innocent until proven guilty.
> 
> The conduct of this trial has put in question the
> principles of the
> equality of women; the prevention of HIV; the
> exercise of responsible
> sexual behaviour; the right to fair trial and the
> independence of the
> judiciary.  TAC and civil society must not
> compromise on these principles.
> 
> We urge all survivors of rape not to allow the
> statements made during
> the course of this trial to deny their right to
> access justice. Rape is
> always a crime and we must fight for the legal
> justice system to always
> be accountable.
> 
> On this 10th anniversary of Parliament's approval of
> our constitution,
> TAC remembers Lorna Mlofana, Nandipha Matyeke, Gugu
> Dlamini and many
> women who were victims of gender based violence. TAC
> will continue to
> strengthen its efforts to build a society in which
> women can live as
> equal citizens, where men respect women and where
> women can enjoy the
> freedoms guaranteed by our constitution.
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs
>
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