Interesting and important complexities that the case of convicted Fees Must Fall activist Kanya Cekeshe raises are missing from public debate about whether he should be released from jail. They’re missing for the simple reason that debate in a time of Twitter often collapses into lazy dichotomies, and muscular performances of self-assuredness, as if any hint of uncertainty is evidence of cowardice.
There are reasons to both be sympathetic to Cekeshe and to worry about the effect of pardoning him. Puzzling through these various factors isn’t a simple matter. But how the law views his actions, situated in a sociopolitical context of political activism aimed at bringing about a more just and equitable education system, tells us a lot about the ability of a judicial officer to balance accountability and the entrenchment of the rule of law, on the one hand, and wrestling with difficult questions about what a just form of punishment is, on the other.
I admit, however, that this is not an easy issue to settle. Sometimes one or two people are prosecuted as a form of scapegoating. We have seen this with apartheid-era killers who languish in jail while countless foot soldiers of colonialism and apartheid live among us as if morally blameless. Yet, it always struck me as wrongheaded to imply that we should release someone found guilty of an atrocious crime because he cannot be jailed unless or until all of his mates are also brought to book.
I am not suggesting that poor people should be treated with kid gloves.
No, no, no. It's black and white. Everything in South Africa is black and white. Only racists say differently.
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