Hardy DCEC, I will not be muzzled

Kgosietsile Ngakaagae | Friday November 6, 2020 14:20

They have taken the campaign to the judiciary. The other day, in court, they sought to have my clients punished for the utterances I made, in correspondence, calling them out for their pitiable condition.

The objective was to secure a judicial reprimand, in order that their rot can go unchecked. What they seek is a gag order of some sort, in terms whereof I would be muzzled and they could proceed with their campaign of terror and pettiness.

I would sooner suffer prison than bow to such shenanigans. I comment at two levels. Firstly, I do so in professional capacity where it is warranted. Being a professional doesn’t mean that I must lend dignity to their shenanigans.

I will speak freely, without fear or favour. The institution is rotten. The institution has been politicised and weaponised against political enemies, and that must be said. If they hate such adjectivisation, then they should change, and do things right. Until they do, I am going down the hole with them.

I do not criticise them because my clients are facing prosecution. We do not doubt our legal defences.  It is not just my clients who are incurring their wrath. Just read the papers, and you will know that there is a problem at the DCEC, and at the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Just read Judge Phuthego’s judgement in the Kebonang review case, and you will know that there is a problem at the DPP and the DCEC. The only difference between me, and other public commentators, is that I happen to have the facility of closer insight by virtue of my training, and by virtue of the cases that I am handling.

The DCEC is that they should stop being crybabies. They must man up to the politicians, before they attempt to man up to me. I have worked with the institution in its glory days. This is an institution that has changed four Directors, in three years because of politics, and abject pettiness.

This is an institution that has transferred a director, Eugene Wasetso, because he was considered not to have sufficient bile for their political agendas. Sorry, I will not relent in my criticism of the DCEC, and the DPP, until there is some change. Such change can only be in the national interest, because these institutions belong to the people. The path or criticism is a public way.

There is a need for government institutions, especially oversight institutions, not to lose sight of their mandate. The DPP and DCEC must be reminded that they are not part of CAVA - whatever that means. There is a need for them to insulate themselves from the politicians.

The raging fires between the former President and the current President could have been tamed if the DCEC had been blatantly honest with the political administration about their mandate and had defended it with vigor.

But lo and behold, they went for fanfare, and engaged in a mindless orgy of bootlicking. Now the politicians, who compromised the institutions, are themselves compromised. Things are not looking good. That is the pitiless logic of facts.

For the record, I respect institutions of government. Both the DCEC and the DPP are very close to my heart. These are institutions that have played no small role in my growth. You will note that my pen has hardly ever spilled ink in criticism of other departments. Only, the DPP and the DCEC. It makes no sense therefore, to suggest that I have no respect for institutions of government.      I have no respect for what is happening at these offices and that is no secret. I criticise them so heavily, because my heart bleeds. I criticise them so heavily because I know what this country would be, if they would rise and live up to their true calling. 

Just the other day, I heavily criticised the Competition Authority on the discharge of their mandate relative to the injustices in the poultry industry. I subsequently had a meeting with them, and they explained fully, what they had done, in order to try and get to the bottom of the issue.

I went back to social media, where I had criticised them, to retract and to offer an apology. No apology was asked for and no threats were given. They knew that only facts could adequately dispel negative criticism. They didn’t go all over the place trying to gain judicial sympathy at my expense. I refuse to be silenced. So long as I am on the truth and within my free speech rights, I shall stand.

Fair to the DCEC, they are structurally captured. Why is the institution under the Office of the President? Why has it been retained under the same ministry, in the new administration? Well, the reason is simple. Because it needed to be kept on a short leash.

Give me any other reason if you can think of one. I cannot think of any. But having said that, there is hope. I do not see a man like Tymon Katholo, who worked so hard to build the institution, falling to the shenanigans of the mavericks that now form part of its command structure. It is hoped that he will bring rationality and sense to it, and that it will see its glory days again. God save the DCEC.