THE National Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel) has joined the voices defending black professionals against the continuous “racist onslaught”.
This comes after a group of 20 black lawyers, including six senior counsel, signed off a letter defending Mpofu in response to an opinion piece by Media24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson which referred to Mpofu as a “nincompoop” and “scoundrel” which was published on February 7.
In the letter titled media statement by concerned advocates and signed by legal heavyweights, the group said that while Basson was entitled to disagree with Mpofu, “he also sought to pour upon him gratuitous insults” that in their view “betray the all-too-common colonial attitude of whiteness towards Africans in general”.
In Basson's criticism of Mpofu, he said the advocate was an indictment on the legal profession . He further wrote that when Mpofu opened his mouth “it’s all bile and bullshit”, and the denigration of Mlambo would “go down in history as one of the lowest moments of our democratic dispensation”.
The lawyers said they were disappointed in the language used by Basson and they understand that it’s a language not only used to represent his attitude towards Mpofu but to all black professionals.
Nadel also wants Basson and News24 to retract the article and apologise for the insults made.
It noted “with great concern” the insults levelled against the JSC and various commissioners.
Nolitha Jali, the Secretary-General at Nadel, said that Basson's insults were “crude, inappropriate and unacceptable” especially because the JSC Commissioners were democratically elected by various organisations and institutions.
“The distasteful labelling of Advocate Mpofu as a ‘nincompoop’, ‘scoundrel’, ‘sly’ and ‘immoral’ leaves much to be desired not only from Basson who authored the scathing article, but also from the News24 publication, as well as various media platforms who deemed it fit to provide a platform from which Basson’s insults can be hailed,” Nadel’s statement read.
Jali said the article did not resemble criticism of the JSC and as an organisation advocating for the democracy and the protection of Constitutional values, Nadel takes the stance that “the right to freedom of expression is by no means a weapon to be wielded in order to trample on the right to dignity of any person, especially when its intention and undertone is inherently racist”.
“Moreover, Nadel is concerned that the JSC is fast becoming a target of racial attacks and as such sends out stern warning against racial prejudice, as well as the undermining of our Constitutional values,” Jali said.
Attempts to obtain comment from Mpofu were unsuccessful as he did not respond to questions sent to him.
But he was quoted in local news reports stating that while he accepts constructive criticism, he took exception to the insults that have been hurled at him.
Political Bureau