Sins of our forefathers

Justice delayed and denied [View this email in your browser]( June 22, 2021 [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, In the 18th and 19th centuries, in parts of England, Scotland and Wales, when a loved one died, it was common for families to hire what was known as a sin-eater. The grieving family placed bread on the chest of the deceased, and called for a man to sit in front of the body. The family of the deceased watched as this man, the local professional sin-eater, absorbed the sins of the departed soul. The family that hired the sin-eater believed that the bread would literally soak up their beloved’s sins; once it had been eaten, all the misdeeds were passed on to the hired hand. The sin-eater’s own soul was filthy with the ill deeds of countless men and women from his village or town. He paid a high spiritual price for little worldly return — a mere four English pence to be exact. Usually, the only people who would dare risk their immortal souls during this religious era were the very poor, whose desire for a little bread and drink outweighed such concerns. One does wonder whether, at his death, [João Rodrigues]( will need a bakery. If his name does not ring a bell, perhaps that of [Ahmed Timol]( will. Rodrigues, who was an apartheid-era policeman, is facing a charge of murder related to the death of Timol[nearly 50 years ago](. He has lost his legal bid for a permanent stay of prosecution. On Monday, 21 June, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed an appeal by Rodrigues in which he asked that he did not have to face trial. The issue before the SCA was whether a lengthy delay in commencing criminal prosecution of charges, including murder, allegedly caused by political interference, caused him prejudice and justified a permanent stay of prosecution. He is facing a charge of murder and defeating and/or obstructing the administration of justice. The murder charge relates to the death of Timol at the then-John Vorster Square police station in October 1971. In 2019, Rodrigues brought a case against the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) seeking a stay of prosecution for his role in the murder of anti-apartheid activist Timol. In its judgment, a full bench of the Pretoria high court recognised and rebuked the NPA for permitting political interference, stating in paragraphs 64 and 65: “Society as a whole had an ongoing interest in the work of the TRC [Truth and Reconciliation Commission] …. Parliament, which ultimately represents the legislative authority of the state, had a right to know when the letter and spirit of legislation that it had passed was being deliberately undermined. None of this occurred and the NPA must accordingly accept the moral and legal consequences of this most serious omission and dereliction of duty on its part.” “There must be a public assurance from both the executive and the NPA that the kind of political interference that occurred in the TRC cases will never occur again. In this regard they should indicate the measures, including checks and balances, which will be put in place to prevent a recurrence of these unacceptable breaches of the constitution.” This has not happened for reasons unexplained. In fact, on Monday, when the SCA dismissed Rodrigues’ appeal, it noted that there “was indeed interference with the NPA … as a result of an executive decision”. It called this “perplexing and inexplicable”. It further stated that “the full court rightly recommended a proper investigation into these issues by the NDPP [National Director of Public Prosecutions] and a determination whether any action in terms of s 41(1) of the National Prosecuting Authority Act 32 of 1998 (NPA Act) was necessary.” The Rodrigues case is no ordinary murder case. It occurred in furtherance of apartheid. The term “amnesty” derives from the Greek word for “forgetting” — amnestia. We simply cannot forget crimes of such gravity as the killing of Timol. Unfortunately, cases such as this one are representative of the inertia of the NPA in prosecuting crimes that shake our nation’s identity. Until tomorrow, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Subscribe now]( Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2021 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences or unsubscribe here.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Mail & Guardian Media LTD · 25 Owl St · Braamfontein · Johannesburg, Gauteng 2001 · South Africa