Justice or Peace in Sudan
South African television a few years ago took a very laudable initiative, the SABC Africa service. They broadcast late morning news through the week. Recently the following disturbing report was given from a session in the Africa Union. I overheard the South African delegate defending the Sudanese Head of State, who has been summoned to the International Court in The Hague. It is proven that the Sudanese state has committed violations on a massive scale in the Darfur region leading to the death of many thousands.

The argument that the delegate put forward to the effect that Sudan’s leader must be supported for not going to The Hague went like this. It may be that this leader was not exactly innocent, but in this case one has to deal with justice and peace at the same time. If justice would lead to a breakdown of the fragile peace agreements that hade been put in place it would not be worth the price. In other words, the need for peace could sometimes mean that justice would have to wait or not be seen at all.

It is in all its aspects a sickening and saddening argument. Exactly this argument was put forward by the racist South African government of the late 1970s. A homelands policy was being worked out, which meant that black Africans (Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana etc.) were given an area where they could live and decide for themselves (these areas were also called Bantustans).

The first independent homeland was the Transkei and the first leader was Chief Mathanzima. People said: we want justice, which means sharing the whole of South Africa, nothing more nor less. The government said: for the sake of peace we have to do it like this. Africans will now have at least a piece of the country and they can rule. If we left everything open so that blacks could vote in South Africa, you may get justice on the paper but on the ground there would be chaos, there would be no peace.

Well, I was reminded of this when I heard the South African delegate defend the Sudanese leader for reasons that seem to be more of convenience than a search for truth and justice.

South African foreign policy the last few years has been miserable and it is as if our leaders have clean forgotten where they are coming from, what proud struggle credentials some of them have. It is for the record not very encouraging to be found on the same footing as the apartheid government 30 years ago.