The justice system in South Africa has eyes, and this is something seasoned Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane SC learnt the hard way.
Sikhakhane, in his memoir titled Odyssey of Liberation, details how taking a brief to represent former head of state Jacob Zuma became his worst nightmare.
According to him, the courts in this country dislike Zuma and everyone who represents him in his many cases.
Suffered because he dared to represent Zuma
And Sikhakhane was not spared when he also represented Zuma. This includes during the discredited Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
It was during this time, wrote Sikhakhane, that he learnt that many judges have lost sense or justice. That they are driven by emotions and career ambitions.
“Some judges hated me for representing president Zuma. And they were impatient with me because it was important for them to demonstrate how much they disliked him. They could not even hide it,” writes Sikhakhane, who calls himself a “rebel advocate”.
“I guess they believed, and they were right, that it was good for their judicial careers to show their antipathy towards him. It has worked for some of them.”
Zuma lost some of the cases because of how much he was hated
Sikhakhane believes that some of the cases Zuma has lost in SA courts were based on how many judges cannot suppress their dislike of him for political reasons.
In his view, whenever Zuma is on the dock, many judges cease to be champions of justice. They are instead hypocritically always ready and willing to hammer a nail into Zuma’s political coffin.
“Of course, I do not mean that President Zuma should have won every case that was brought before our courts. But honest citizens know that our courts truly dislike the man. And because some of our judges, in my view, are career judges, they tend to handle political cases with one eye cast of their career path.”
Sikhakhane, in the book, also pours his heart out about how he professionally and personally suffered for representing Zuma.
Friends and colleagues turned against him
As if being dealt with harshly by biased judges was not enough, he writes, his friends, colleagues and comrades turned their backs on him for representing Zuma, who seemingly does not deserve justice, according to Sikhakhane.
“I approach my career as an advocate, not as a popularity contest. But as a calling to defend those in need of justice. We all need justice, no matter how hated we are,” he wrote.
“Representing president Zuma to me was simply a task I took because his attorney approached me. And I could refuse to represent the man purely because many people dislike him. After all, who is liked by everyone?
“Representing president Zuma is probably the most challenging and yet, enlightening brief I have had. I learnt so much about the pretences in our society, the bigotry in our judiciary, and basically the fact that many believe that only those they like deserve justice. It was a disappointing revelation. And one that left a permanent impression on my mind about society and justice.”
