The Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa, the Honourable Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng

Transcription

1 The Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa, the Honourable Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng A transcript of his speech at the 2016 Oliver Tambo Memorial Lecture 27 October 2016, Turbine Hall, Newtown, Johannesburg Programme Director, Professor Tom, Sis Tembi Tambo, Dali Tambo, and your dear wife, Rachel I don t know whether our sister Tselane is around Oh! There, I see you Dr Frene Ginwala, The Chair of the Foundation, members of the Board, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening to you all. It s something of a challenge for a Chief Justice, who never had the occasion to meet and talk to a prolific leader and distinguished politician like OR Tambo, to be called upon to deliver a memorial lecture that relates to him, because then you risk some legitimacy challenges: Who are you? What can you possibly tell us, particularly if part of what you say has the unintended consequence of biting one or the other South African. But that is an invitation I couldn t resist, because I believe that these are the times that any caring South African who is afforded the opportunity to share some reflections on President OR, as he was affectionately known in some quarters, or O.R., needs to seize with both hands and share whatever they can in the circumstances. This is all I know about OR. I read about him from a tender age. I read even more when I was at law school because I was enthused by the reality of two African people OR and Nelson Mandela running a successful attorney s practice, and I had occasion to interact with their secretary, I don t think there was more than one, Mme Ruth Mompati, and she shared what she knew about these two giants at the time, that she was privileged to serve as their Secretary. But there is another revealing and more challenging way that I got, and I was actually forced, to do everything in my power to know who OR was: and that was to meditate about what he stood for, internalise it, and make a quality decision about how someone who is privileged to

2 still be alive and able to make a meaningful contribution to my nation can do and this is how I was forced. Just over five years ago, I was highly honoured and privileged to sleep in the same bed he used to sleep in. To walk about in the same house where, until his time if death, he resided. And when you are in that position, and your conscience is not dead, you cannot, particularly in the challenging times in which we live, but ask yourself a number of telling questions: what would OR have said in the circumstances? And take it a little bit further, because anybody can say anything, and most of the time it is good things that people that hope to be appreciated say. Of critical importance is, additional to that, what would OR have done? Because there are many good plans out there and all over the world, and South Africa is no exception, implementation has proved to be quite serious challenge. So, I've been forced to breathe the air that he breathed, to appreciate that he was indeed a humble man, and selfless. And maybe before I touch on his selflessness, allow me to quote and I m not a man who quotes much but allow me to quote from one of the prominent leaders of the NPLA, Lucio Larda. I quote "We did not pay great deal of attention to the ideological problem. I speak of honesty, sticking to one s principles above all kindness, generosity. A natural militant of the National Democratic revolution by definition is generous because he or she is doing what he and she can for the people without taking personal interest into account. We should have been able to prevent personal interests gradually, the little egos, from taking over from the generosity which should have been the defining characteristic of militancy in a party like ours. Today I don't have illusions about many things. In the Angolan struggle, perhaps, we did not have philosophers or sociologists, but we have words of Augustine Arnetto, that the most important thing is to solve people s problems. Once in the Council of ministers, I heard someone say we should stop using this phrase. I thought maybe he was right because no one spoke against him. In my opinion, this was when the party began to collapse. The leaders felt they all had a right to be rich. That

3 was the beginning of the destruction of our life. Our people are suffering and no one cares. If you talk to our people, they are all suffering. No one is smiling, but there is no preoccupation with this from the leadership of the party. This is the man, and I know you ve all read about him, that I know you have all read about him, who I understand was so humble and selfless that when he came across someone wearing shoes without shoelaces, he would take time, pause and do what he can do to assist the person in the circumstances. But obviously his other selfless this is reflected by this reality that: he was a practising attorney, had a successful attorney s practice, but structured in such a way not so much as to make money, but to advance the liberation struggle of which he was a critical part. He abandoned that practice in circumstances where many similarly positioned people could easily have said it's time to be reasonable here. I've got a family, I better look after myself, like many others. When commanded to go out there and inform the international community about what his party, the African National Congress, stood for, and the voice that it was for the people of South Africa, he forgot about self-interest, he forgot about his practice, and chose to do that that which was in the best interest of his people and his nation. How many of us right now, in circumstances as comfortable as we live in, circumstances do not threaten to have you locked up the minute you step out of your office or wherever you may be doing what he was doing under those trying circumstances? How many, and why? Before I go any further let me make it very clear, it is a betrayal of the highest order of the legacy of OR Tambo, for any of us in the constitutional democracy that we now enjoy, because of his sacrifice, to be politically correct in circumstances where courage is called for. I've said several times, and maybe people thought that I wanted to be a populist, or maybe I was seizing the opportunity of the prevailing circumstances to be a peace-time hero, when I said I would rather die than be part of, or party to, any corrupt machinery. I would rather die.

4 What honour, what dignity, what self-respect can you ever hope to have remaining when circumstances are so trying that they challenge you, they beg you to stand up and be counted, and yet for the sake of money and position and self-interest you cower down and cooperate with systems that do not advance the good of the people? I remain inspired on a daily basis by his sacrifice and caring. I marvelled at one of the speeches delivered at Morogoro at the Solomon Mahlangu School. His concern was mosquitoes were finishing up people there, and he made an effort to identify what constitutes fertile ground for mosquitoes to breed, and the tall grass identified as the problem. He provided solution: let's remove the tall grass and plant a lawn, it will even beautify the environment. He could easily have said "no no no, I am in London, why should I worry about these people?" as some of us do. Many who were in exile, who are now educated, tell the story that because of this foresight he kept encouraging them to embrace education in preparation for the constitutional democracy that he believed would be realised during their lifetime. One of the people who reportedly worked very close to him was Ntate Mose Mabhida, and he told many that this man was such a visionary leader, that he could see things that were to happen five years down the line when nobody else could see it, and that s what we need. You need to read the situation so well in this country, all of us put together, to start making a lot of noise long before we delve into an economic crisis and put systems in place ahead of time to circumvent that disastrous consequence. That is, if we can. Now, we know that his first choice was not to be an attorney. This is what he said, and I quote, I had other plans for my life. I wanted to be a minister of the Anglican Church with Bishop Clayton. After we married, I was going to train for the ministry in Cape Town, but God had other plans for me. God s plan was for me to fight in the political

5 liberation for my people. I haven t conducted a survey, but I was led to believe that about 80% of South Africans are Christians, such as President OR was, and I know, just as you do, that during the trying times of our struggle, the Clergy was possibly more visible than other leaders in society. You saw the Desmond Tutus, the Frank Chikanes, throwing themselves on top of people just so that they were not burned; leading the marches, keenly interested in what was happening to their people, ensuring that the structures to which the majority of South Africans belonged, are relevant and continue to be relevant. Here is the challenge: in memory of President O.R., I don t think South Africans want to 1, 2,3 and 5 men and women of the cloth enthusiastically involved in affairs of the nation. I think they need to call more prayers meetings for the challenges that face this nation. I think they need to speak out loud more than ever before. I don t think that churches only need to be visible at gatherings with important people. There is more to do now than ever before by churches, and to preach every Sunday in those places of worship, the message being that South Africans need to internalise, just as OR did in exile, for the betterment of our country. One of the legacies we must never forget is the role he played in envisioning the kind of Constitution that we have. Setting up the Constitutional Committee, this is what he is reported to have said: We commissioned the ANC Constitutional Committee to begin elaborating on the Constitutional principles on the basis of the Freedom Charter. It was our view that such principles would constitute a basis for a national debate on the new Constitution. We, therefore, hoped to initiate a process whereby, the new Constitution would emerge from the people themselves. So, the Constitutional Democracy that we enjoy, the Bill of Rights that we have, a reading of his speeches would demonstrate that he envisioned, he planned out long before the Constitutional Committee was even established.

6 Let me try and summarise what I had planned to say. He said a number of things about the economy. What then do we need to do? What would OR have done in relation to the economy? I think, clearly, he would have said that this is the time for self-restraint. Anything that has the potential to wreck our economy, to result in the economy of South Africa being downgraded to junk status, should be avoided as much as you would avoid a mamba when you see it. Those of us in positions of leadership need to interact with the business sector, with potential investors, even with countries that have experienced what we are going through right now, and do all that needs to be done for the sake of the economy that OR had envisioned. One, as you know, of the key factors that businesses look at when they re considering investing, is to look at political stability and predictability. So, everybody in this nation, not just a particular political party, but all of us together, need to ensure that there is political stability and predictability. You see, we suffer a problem and a prejudice as Africa. Let me explain myself: there can be any number of problems in France one explosion after the other the negativity that flows from that is not equal to the negativity that flows from what looks like political instability. The odds are stacked against Africa, and we need to be alive to that reality in whatever we do. You re not going to be fairly judged why can t you then be proactive? So, the appeal that we must make to all our political leaders: there are areas where you can differ wherever you want but never in a manner that sends a message, it may even be the wrong message across to investors and political investors, that there is a political crisis looming on the horizon. I was interviewed in 2013 by CNN international, and this woman, Becky Anderson, said to me, I understand that as soon as Madiba goes, people will be killing each other in the streets of South Africa, left, right and centre. I was horrified! I said, But Becky, where do you get that one from? So, perceptions without the benefit of a properly articulated response, sooner rather than later, have a way of morphing into reality. Let us do whatever we can, all of us put together, to create an investor-friendly

7 climate. Let us seriously reflect on the dangers that we re going to have to go through should we be downgraded to that status. Can you imagine, junk status? Even if you re not an economist Junk!..and it s the status of your country?! Let us make sure that institutions, that the business sector and the international community consider, particularly in the emerging markets, as the source of comfort that is critical to giving them the ease that they need, are strengthened, respected and maintained. The democracy-strengthening institutions must enjoy our support. It should actually never matter who the incumbent is. And that, of course, includes the judiciary. All of you put together must comply with the orders of the courts. You know why? If you don t, this is what I would think if I was a potential investor: what if I pour my billions into this country by way of an investment, and somebody decides to take what belongs to me? And if you don t have a truly independent judiciary, what do you think is going to happen? An instruction will be issued to that judge or those judges, and because they re insecure and not truly independent, they will obey. Who would want to invest in that kind of a country? And of course, the Reserve Bank. What do we do to the Reserve Bank? What we say about the Reserve Bank, must be such so as not to create an unintended impression. That we are beginning to have second thoughts about it; that we are beginning to want to reorder how it works in a manner that might be misunderstood, because then the economy that OR would have wanted us to build, would be a pipedream. So, we need the strategists, the master tacticians because that s what he was all of us, we need to become our own little ORs in our own operating spaces. The difficulty is this: human beings love positions. You should be afraid of any leader who is prepared to do anything to become a leader. As a student, the political organisation that I belonged to, and I won t mention it now, come election time, people were fighting for positions. And I said as I ll use the word I used then because I m quoting myself then, not now Comrades, if you re fighting for positions now before we even become free, what is going to happen when we are free

8 and when you are paid for what you do? Let us be wary of anyone in our midst who has fallen in love with position and power, because it s important to appreciate the difference, as OR did, between positional and functional leadership. A positional leader adopts the If only I can get there attitude eyeing the privileges that come with the position. But a functional leader is very much like OR. Do you know what he did? Just to ensure that Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners on Robben Island are released, he chose to profile him over himself. He chose to coin a campaign, the Release Mandela campaign, not an Oliver Tambo release Mandela campaign, and that created the global consciousness and solidarity that was required to push us faster to the goal we have now attained. Nelson Mandela received one award after the other as a result of that. But something else happened: he [OR] surrendered the reigns of leadership to him. Former President Mandela said he resisted the inclination of OR to release the leadership reigns to him, but OR said it was time for someone else to takeover. But there s something else that he said to him in 1991 when he handed over the leadership reigns, he said: We have kept this organisation intact, guard this movement of our people. You can be an effective leader without occupying a position. I wish, particularly we South Africans, could have an appreciation of that reality. The selflessness that drove, that moved OR, if only we could choose to internalise it and be happy with the little that we have, as he was, not allowing an insatiable appetite for money and position that some of us seem to be suffering from. It s an incurable disease for which we must begin to find a cure, because once you embrace functional leadership you will know that it is for the people that I want to service, for as long as I live. Even if I have to use a bus to go to work, as long as my people s best interests are advanced, then I am fine. And do you know what? People will see through the leadership barriers. They will identify you behind those who actually occupy positions, and say: We know what you are doing, even if you don t want to be noticed. So please stop this insatiable hunger for money and position. It will drive you to kill; and we won t hesitate to lock you up if you are brought before us.

9 Let me conclude by saying education is one of the things that he [OR] embraced and championed. No wonder section 29 of our Constitution speaks to the need to employ the reasonable means available for the progressive realisation of education. And of course, the Preamble of our Constitution talks about ensuring that the potentials of our people are released. I think a clarion call has just been made by the students and none of us should claim to have the solution, because we don t. We ve got the reality of the economy to internalise. We have other factors, that I dare not touch on, to reflect on, but the bottom line is this: we all have to be constructively engaged in finding an enduring solution to the educational challenges, particularly in our institutions of higher learning. It s a collective responsibility that we must embrace. If we ever have to demonstrate patriotism, this is the point to rally around. It is no moment for point-scoring; we don t want those institutions to be burnt down it can never be justified. Every organisation must identify from its midst, those that can engage constructively with the students and universities structures, to find a last solution to the problem, because if we condemn the students from afar without any meaningful engagement, we can only harden their attitudes. We must never give the students the impression that we thing they are crazy and ignorant. And I m sure we will not agree everything they say, but that ongoing engagement with them, to make sure that for their sake, this academic year is saved, but also, to explain to them that there is a clear plan. If there is anything I shy away from calling it a crisis this challenge has taught me, and I believe that it should teach all of us, is this: never allow circumstances to force you into a decision. The blueprint is in the Constitution, and we should, therefore, plan ahead of time for all our Constitutional responsibilities, so that nothing ever catches us by surprise; and even the engagement with the key stakeholders happens before they spur us into action. We must be proactive all the time. Never react to circumstances, as we are at times forced to do, as if we did not know that these things are bound to come.

10 I think I must conclude, although I didn t read my speech. Let me conclude by saying, when people got involved like OR in the Liberation Struggle, knowing that they may be tracked down and killed, that even their families may be killed, and persisted even when they saw their comrades die, I don t think they expected of us to assume that that struggle has now ended just because we can now go vote. The enormous responsibilities that rested on their shoulders, and that they discharged so honourably, were intended to be carried forward by you and I in our own operational spaces. The sacrifice that informed what they were doing at great risk should actually be doubled now that there is no threat of imprisonment for us doing the right thing. There might be the threat of discomfort, but no risk of being sent to Robben Island. How many of us take a percentage of their salaries to contribute to the education of students, without asking for the media to be present so that they can catch your smile as you shake the hands of the students? How prepared are we to share what we have and to sacrifice for the advancement of this country? How often do we call gatherings at which we talk about what is it that we can do to take South Africa forward? Are we as committed as we ought to be where we work? Do we take all the risks that we ought to take, or have we arrived? I think there is a challenge that we need to embrace so that a memorial lecture like this can carry any significance: we can t come here just to excited ourselves, we must only come here to challenge ourselves, or to allow ourselves to be challenged. We need to focus on ensuring that have our basic necessities met, and then share the little that we have with others. The British High Commissioner reminded me of a story I d previously shared with her: the prestige and comfort of my office does not allow me to forget what people like OR suffered for. Almost every weekend without fail, I meet with a fellowship of people in the poorest of communities where my home is in Mafikeng, to identify their need, and see what I can do to assist them. It does not cost much.

11 Some sleep without food for a number of days our own people and we have so much available, and yet, we can t seem to be satisfied. Let s go and digest, or remind ourselves, of what OR stood for, decided to play our part, make a contribution to reorder the affairs of South Africa in such a way that it becomes what OR and Tata Nelson Mandela envisioned it to be. Thank you for listening.