Understanding the BLA's critique of Judge Mokgoatlheng: A historical perspective

WHILE Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng was making his apology, many were speechless as the organisation leading the charge was the Black Lawyers Association (BLA). Yet, holy of holies, he was one of its founders.

Furthermore, many were gobsmacked as, when a senior jurist, black or white and, in this case, also a struggle veteran, makes such remarks, should it not be asked why in the first place the words came or slipped out of the mouth?

Mokgoatlheng was one of the prominent figures during the heyday of Soweto’s mounting Post-1976 resistance against apartheid. These figures included the late Dr Nthato Motlana and his Soweto Committee of 10, which was preceded by the Soweto Parents Committee formed by Winnie Mandela with people like the late Dr Aaron Matlare.

This was after apartheid’s Soweto police had brutalised students in detention.

It was in this period that the Teachers Action Committee (TAC), involving Fanyana Mazibuko, Clarence Mlokoti, and Curtis Nkondo, was in action and later joined by the likes of Ihron Rensburg in its leadership. These developments were a symptom of the day as township residents, or South Africans in general, formed organisations based on their vocations to support the struggle.

Thus, black lawyers who included Godfrey Pitje, Seun Moshidi, Mojanku Gumbi, Kgomotso Motlana, Keith Kunene, Dolly Mokgatle, Toby Mokone, Mokgoatlheng, Bernard Ngoepe, and Jonathan Madikizela grouped themselves and the BLA ultimately emerged, later to be led by luminaries such as Dumisa Ntsebeza and former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke.

Specifically, the BLA was born in discussion in the living room of Pitje’s house in Daveyton; Mokgoatlheng and Madikizela were tasked to draft the constitution. They did, and it was adopted when the BLA was formally launched and Pitje elected as the first president. Let us hope the current leadership of the BLA knows this.

Mokgoatlheng, admitted as an attorney in 1977, then started his legal practice. He is a product of the University of Fort Hare which, with other black universities and the University of Natal medical school, were the crucible of black national student political activism; if not organised black national political activity as the apartheid government had banned the pioneer organisation, the ANC created in 1912 and also Robert Sobukwe’s PAC born in 1958.

Mokgoatlheng had rubbed shoulders with the likes of Steve Biko, Barney Pityana, Justice Moloto, Chris Mokoditoa, Saths Cooper and Mamphela Ramphele, to name just a few of our struggle stalwarts. As he started his legal firm, little did he know that, while providing legal services for free for specific offences in defiance of apartheid, it would face the challenges that black firms defending black political activists faced at the time.

While overseas organisations poured money into white and Indian firms defending political activists, black firms struggled and often defended their clients from their own pockets. I recall travelling to Durban to meet with Griffiths Mxenge, whose firm was also a victim, and he wanted to discuss what could be done to help these black law firms.

Fortuitously, the situation improved when Desmond Tutu was secretary general of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), and Frank Chikane, who later became secretary general, ensured that black law firms defending political activists got funds.

For the record, the basis of the Mxenge meeting was to strengthen the bonds between black journalists and black law firms, as, for various reasons, political cases involving black lawyers were not in the media, and we thus wanted to make sure that the black firms informed specific black journalists of such cases. The funding issues also became something to be discussed.

In any case, there was vibrant activism in the media as we maintained we were black before being journalists. The Union of Black Journalists (UBJ) had been formed, and journalist Hary Mashabela, who had faced trial for a political offence and was detained under the notorious Section 6 of the Terrorism Act, was the first president. His tenure ended when he was banned.

Joe Thloloe, a serial detainee under apartheid, took over as president after Mashabela, but his stint also ended with a banning. The UBJ was banned with other organisations and newspapers in October 1977, Black Wednesday, and the Writers Association of South Africa (Wasa) was immediately created in defiance. Wasa was replaced by the Media Workers Association of SA (Mwasa) to now include all media workers.

This was the era of Zwelakhe Sisulu, who was president of the journalists and media workers organisations. Mokgoatlheng was the lawyer for WASA, which, like other organisations of the time, found itself in scraps with the law, and Mokgoatlheng was there. Funds for Wasa and Mwasa were also channelled through Mokgoatlheng ‘s firm.

His firm represented Sisulu, me and other journalists “troublemakers” like Mathatha Tsedu and Willie Bokala with their ongoing woes with the security police and the apartheid state. At one stage, I was sentenced to two years imprisonment, but on appeal, with the Mokgoatlheng firm representing me, the judge Mervyn King suspended my sentence.

As a legal firm, he also faced the ire of the then white law society when it took him to task after his articled clerks revealed in the media the conditions of their clients in jail. The Law Society said the Prisons Act forbade the publication of information about prisoners' conditions in prison, and he should have advised his clerks. One of his clerks was Krish Naidoo, who regularly acts as for the ruling ANC.

Mokgoatlheng was part of Soweto's vibrant political landscape, which included a mix of Soweto organisations and persons. The Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo) was born with the knowledge of this loose alliance, as it was clear a national organisation was needed now that the Black Peoples Convention Movement (BPC) and sister black consciousness organisations had been banned, following in the footsteps of the ANC and PAC. Mokgoatlheng was part of the Azapo leadership.

The above explains why many were astounded that the BLA, of all organisations, led the tirade against Mokgoatlheng. It is not that he is above being called to order, but many ask if there was any thinking before the onslaught. Did the BLA leaders phone the Ngoepes or Gumbis of this world to get guidance?

Does this not confirm fears that colonialism has stripped black South Africans of that social fabric which saw even 40-year-olds hardly hazard an opinion before consulting that elder who, because of his/her age, could provide grounded and solid guidance?

Surely, the BLA knowing that Mokgoatlheng is their elder and founder could have handled this with aplomb than play to the gallery. Or is it asking for too much from today’s generations who have even elevated slogans as part of the intellectual discourse?

* Dr Thami Mazwai is a former activist, journalist and editor and grew up in Soweto.

** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL.