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Samson Gampe, who died aged 86 on 5th January 2017, has proved to be one of the biggest obstacles to State sponsored ambitions to tame the Wild Coast with two related mega development impositions; the Xolobeni Mineral Sands project and the N2 Wild Coast Toll Road. 

In tribute, the following edited excerpt from John GI Clarke’s book The Promise of Justice opens a window into uTata Gampe’s remarkable wisdom, oratory and groundedness in the soils of the Amadiba Wild Coast community.

The minister must come herself, not be carried in the wind a like a ‘shekas’ (plastic bag). She must come and speak her own truth.

Samson Gampe.

 

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“On the Day of Reconciliation I find myself laying charges of perjury against Mr Nazir Alli.

I believe the day should be renamed the Day of TRUTH and Reconciliation for there can be no meaningful reconciliation without truth. There can be no peace without justice. I am alleging that Mr Alli perjured himself by claiming that the Sanral Board had resolved to apply to the Minister of Transport for the N1 and N2 routes leading into Cape Town to be declared as toll roads. The judgement against Sanral and in favour of the City of CT found that claim to be "far fetched and untenable" and could be "rejected merely on the papers and without the need for oral evidence".

I hope this will lead to a restorative justice outcome that will ultimately work for Mr Alli himself, and that people in positions of power and authority in State Owned and Public Entities will be deterred from dishonesty and taking of shortcuts that violate fundamental human rights.”

 Read here: Outa Newsletter

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One year ago, near the picturesque Wild Coast village of Mdatya, while the soothing strains of the Christmas carol “Silent Night, Holy Night” were still echoing tidings of goodwill and peace to all humankind, another child was born in the early hours of New Year’s morn.

Akolwa Ndovela was born, not in a stable but under a Waterberry tree where her mother was hiding with her older siblings, having been chased out of their home by armed thug’s intent on clearing the way for MRC Ltd, an Australian mining company, and their local BEE partner Xolco to mine their ancestral lands for titanium.

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There’s no doubt in my mind that special investigation and national prosecution veteran Willie Hofmeyr is being side-lined by National Director of Public Prosecutions boss Shaun Abrahams.

Call me unscientific and anecdotal, but witnessing his career and behaviour, both since 1994 and against the apartheid riot police in greater Cape Town’s townships in the turbulent, flaming 80’s, convinces me of his integrity.

I watched Hofmeyr prostrate himself in front of the large wheels of a Casspir in Khayelitsha after the notorious Major Dolf Odendaal, (if memory serves), had arrested and loaded then Progressive Federal Party MP and activist, Jan van Eck, into the back of the vehicle. (Van Eck’s “crime”? Being in a township without express permission and/or within sight or sound of ‘’unrest”) Proper use of weird laws.

Today we have weird use of proper laws. I have no doubt about Hofmeyr’s backbone; his career is replete with examples. His superior, well…that’s a different story.

Abrahams has certainly shown very little respect for the track record and experience of his colleague, as this letter of complaint from social worker John GI Clarke to new Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, highlights.

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About John GI Clarke

John Clarke hopes to write the wrongs of the world, informed by his experience as a social worker and theologian, to actualise fundamental human rights and satisfy fundamental human needs.  He has lived in the urbanised concentration of Johannesburg, but has worked mainly in the rural reaches of the Wild Coast for the past decade.  From having paid a fortune in toll fees he believes he has earned the right to be critical of Sanral and other extractive institutions, and has not held back while supporting Sustaining the Wild Coast (www.swc.org.za), the Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (www.safcei.org.za) and the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (www.outa.co.za), in various ways.

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