Brave people
RONNIE Kasrils is usually described according to his various achievements: former cabinet minister, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) veteran and writer. But as the nation reviewed his words outside the high court in Pretoria this week after he had won his defamation case against Deputy Defence Minister Kebby Maphatsoe, he has taken on the broader description of “hero”.
Kasrils sued Maphatsoe, who is the chairman of the MK Military Veterans Association (MKMVA), not only for his spurious remarks around Kasrils being “a counter-revolutionary”, but dominantly because Maphatsoe accused him of setting up the rape allegations which “Khwezi” laid against President Jacob Zuma in December 2005.
The parties reached a settlement on Tuesday in which Maphatsoe apologised to Kasrils and agreed to pay him R500 000 as well as cover his legal costs. Kasrils then announced that he would be donating the money to Khwezi, who, he said, had called him and said “Uncle Ronnie, Jacob Zuma has raped me”. Those words, as repeated by Kasrils, will haunt a nation which has never quite come to terms with what happened to Khwezi or with the acquittal of Zuma.
In standing up for Khwezi, who he had known since she was a child, Kasrils effectively stood up for the integrity of so many women who are brave enough to lay rape charges. He had done so earlier this year in a speech outside the Constitutional Court , when former ANC heavyweights joined members of civil society to urge a movement against corruption, but that was somewhat overshadowed by the greater intention of the meeting taking place.
Kasrils’s words outside court this week had much more power for the fact that the spotlight was only on him, as a veteran of the liberation movement and a man whose moral weight has allowed him to speak out against the destruction of our democratic principles during the Zuma era.
There can be little doubt that Khwezi, forced into exile through fear and intimidation 10 years ago, has had her life devastated. We remember and praise her courage, and we congratulate Kasrils for his integrity.