Politics Notebook | My Learned Friend, Advocate Dali Mpoepol, SC

FINALLY, we have a judiciary that takes on the “people’s advocate", Dali Mpofu, without kid gloves.

The experienced and formidable judge Nathan Ponnan rebuked Dali in the Supreme Court of Appeal with many learned words, but what he really wanted to say was: You are a pathetic jerk, Dali, a windbag, and a supreme charlatan. Silk or not, you don’t belong in a courtroom.

Mpofu (once again) represented the ousted public protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, and brought forth such legal nonsense that the judge, supported by judges Caroline Nicholls, Billy Mothle, Mokgere Masipa and Evette Dippenaar, described it as “dead on arrival".

Mpofu has made many millions from Mkhwebane’s legal cases, most of which were paid for by taxpayers.

Ponnan said Mpofu, “who seemed not to be sufficiently well-versed with the relevant authorities, was of little to no assistance to the court".

“To understand the decision-making process, those who practise in this court are expected to have more than just a nodding acquaintance with the relevant rules, as also the established jurisprudence of this court. Developed skills in legal research, analysis and writing are an indispensable part of an appellate practitioner's toolkit. Conclusionally, assertions that a lower court disregarded the law or turned a blind eye to egregious violations of a litigant's rights, can hardly carry the day."

But here were the words that Mpofu, more actor and political court jester than legal practitioner, should have heard from a judge long ago: “Exasperated sighs, soapbox oratory, empty rhetoric, political posturing, theatrical gestures and long-winded dismissive non-sequiturs have no place in a courtroom, particularly in response to searching questions from the bench."

Mkhwebane reacted by attacking Ponnan because of his Indian heritage, even though the other four judges were not:

MK jumps on the bandwagon

Jacob Zuma’s MK Party operates on the same base level as Mkhwebane, now an EFF member of parliament, and eagerly attacks the judiciary. After the high court ruled that the Judicial Service Commission must proceed without MKP’s John Hlophe until the legal position of the ousted judge is clarified, the party declared in a press release:

“The MK Party notes the incompetent, irrational, absurd, and blatantly political judgment of the Western Cape High Court, which is regrettable but not surprising. The judgment purports to interdict Dr. Mandlakayise John Hlophe, individually, from performing his constitutional duties as an MK Party Member of Parliament appointed to serve on the JSC pursuant to Section 178 of the Constitution. The judgment constitutes gross judicial overreach and disregards the provisions of the very constitution it purports to uphold.”

The comtsotsis make a comeback

The MK Party and the EFF are, of course, parties that broke away from the ANC. It’s clear that this type of populist misconduct and rhetoric is still alive in the ANC. One of the most distasteful political scenes I’ve watched in a long time was the ANC and EFF councillors in Tshwane behaving like thugs after Cilliers Brink was ousted as mayor last week. It’s perhaps time to revive the old term “comtsotsis".

Outside the council chamber, the jeering and insults continued, with metro employees leading the chorus. It got so bad that city manager Johann Mettler scolded the officials in a letter: “I found this behaviour to be insensitive, humiliating, degrading, inflammatory, offensive, and downright despicable.” Now the EFF and ANC are threatening Mettler, saying his days are numbered. Let’s deploy another cadre from somewhere, comrades – it’s our time to eat again.

I wonder if the leaders of the ANC and ActionSA think the people of Tshwane and South Africa believe them when they repeatedly claim that Brink was a rotten mayor who had to be replaced in the interest of the poor, to be succeeded by an ANC or ActionSA hero. What we do know is that real progress has been made with issues such as water problems, the city’s debt was reduced by R1 billion in five months, and Moody’s upgraded Tshwane’s credit rating from negative to stable.

And then there’s this nonsense from the ANC’s MEC for finance and economic development, Lebogang Maile on X (Twitter):

Jesus is white, so the Lebanese are too

South Africa has a long-standing connection with Lebanon, the country that was just invaded by Israel: Tens of thousands of South Africans are descendants of Lebanese immigrants seeking a new life here over the last century or so.

I grew up in Kroonstad, where the Yazbek and Khourie families played a big role in society. Then there are the famous boxing brothers Vic, Alan, and Jimmy Toweel, the golfer Fulton Allem, and the economist Azhar Jammine, all from Lebanese families.

Other Lebanese surnames in South Africa include Abdo, Ansara, Ashkar, Azaham, Bakkos, Basel, Bolus, Cahi, Chami, Cheketri, Daher, Dieb (Deeb), Emmanuel, Essey, Farah, Faris, Gandur, Gossayn, Haddad, Hanna, Jacobs, Jammine, Joseph, Kalil, Karam, Kairuz, Kudsee, Kurdachi, Lahoud, Lebanon, Lebos, Leicher, Maroun, Masters, Mazaham, Mezher, Nacouzi, Nader, Najjar, Nofal, Rezek, Risha, Saad, Sadie, Sahade, Sasseen, Sauma, Seba, Sham, Shamley, Shehab, Shelela, Shkhaytiri, Simaan and Zoghby.

The first Lebanese immigrants, all Catholics, arrived in South Africa around the 1880s and were initially called “Syrians". They were classified by the Union government as Asians, and thus “non-white". Moses Gandur, a businessman, took the government to court because, as an “Asian," he was not allowed to own land.

He argued in court that the Lebanese were Semites, just like the Jews, but that Jews were classified as white: “The Syrians are an ancient Semitic race in whose land Christianity arose and flourished, and who were the first disciples of Christianity, fighting with great loss and sacrifice against the Turks during the Crusades and remaining staunch defenders of the faith to the present day, and the members of Legislature that passed the said Law [Transvaal Law No. 3 of 1885] renowned for their zeal for Christianity would not subject another white Christian race to the differentiations and restrictions imposed by the said Law.”

The version of the (successful) court application that has been passed down by Lebanese families over the years is that Gandur asked the judges if Jesus was white. When they answered in the affirmative, he said that the “Syrians" were among the very first followers of Christ and still spoke His language, and therefore they should also be considered white. And so it was.

♦ VWB ♦

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