Gordhan should clear his name in court

SOUTH Africans are making the same mistake the ANC did. It is dangerous to jump to conclusions and assume the innocence of an individual who is still required to answer allegations.

The ANC membership, leadership and those who lead its alliance components made the same mistake with President Jacob Zuma – presenting him as the victim of political conspiracy without allowing the allegations to be tested in a court of law as to whether he was corrupt or not. This is a political miscalculation that currently haunts the ANC in particular, and the country in general. The very same individuals who attacked those who asked for Zuma to have his day in court, now want to convince the country what a bad leader Zuma is.

Now the same mistake is being made in the case involving Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. South Africans who are more concerned about the country’s stability must encourage Gordhan to present himself to the Hawks and a court of law to clear his name in a credible process – instead of mobilising financial institutions, NGOs, his comrades, society and business people to defend him.

Everyone must be treated as innocent until proven guilty by a court of law but equally everyone must subject himself to a court of law if we are to respect our constitution. We are all equal before the law irrespective of our positions of power and irrespective of our financial status.

There is no moral justification for Gordhan’s refusal to cooperate with the Hawks. This sets a wrong example where there is a law for those in positions of power and a different law for those who hold no power. — Phendule Mbewu, ANC BEC member at Harry Gwala Branch, Ntabankulu sub-region the letter I read in the Daily Dispatch (August 26) by a Kei Mouth resident. I am a resident of Komga which also falls under the same municipality as Kei Mouth, Great Kei Municipality.

I have been a resident here for more than 10 years. Five years ago I wrote a letter to the municipal manager complaining about the cattle that roam in town during the day and night.

During that time I was working in Bhisho and sometimes I would come back home at night – twice I nearly had a collision with cattle right in town. I never got a response to my letter. It is worse now; they even sleep in our yards. You would think that we have smallholdings right in town.

I always ask myself what kind of municipal officials manage this municipality. Can it be possible that they don’t see anything wrong in cattle that graze in the middle of the town. If they cannot manage these cattle what else cannot they manage?

I just came to the conclusion that we are being managed by people who are hopelessly inept or who do not care and I wonder what their business is in the municipality.

I always thought this was a Qumrha problem but now I can see it is a Great Kei Municipality problem.

Who is supposed to assist us and remove the cattle in our yards and keep them in the veld or in the yards of their owners? — Ndiphenkosi Madikane, Qumrha which more than often appears to be weighted towards the perpetrator of crime as opposed to the victim.

Where one’s property is properly demarcated, be it a squatter shack, house or game farm, no persons should have the right to come onto that property without the permission of the owner. — Dan Sargent, via email