XPost: soc.culture.south-africa, za.politics, za.misc   
   From: hayesstw@telkomsa.net   
      
   Business Day LIVE   
   FROM THE ARCHIVES: When Mandela dies   
      
   An alleged racist remark about the consequences of Mandela’s death has   
   fuelled   
   the right wing but come to nought, writes Gareth van Onselen   
      
   FROM THE ARCHIVES: When Mandela dies   
   by Gareth van Onselen, 16 December 2013, 07:27   
   FROM the Archives is an ad hoc retrospective series that will look at a   
   significant moment in South Africa’s past. Sometimes it might draw some   
   contemporary insights from the occasion but, for the most part, it will simply   
   aim to describe events as they unfolded.   
      
   The event: "When Mandela dies, we will kill you whites like flies."   
      
   Date: November 7 1997   
      
   Key players: Mzukisi Gaba   
      
   Introduction   
      
   In the late 1990s, Mzukisi Gaba was a proportional representative councillor   
   for the African National Congress (ANC), serving on the Cape Town city   
   council. His name became synonymous with a racial slur he allegedly made when   
   pulled over for drunken driving. So much so, it became one of the definitive   
   reference points for the right wing. Today, search any radical, white   
   supremacist website and you are bound to find a reference to Gaba’s alleged   
   remark: "When Mandela dies, we will kill you whites like flies."   
      
   Nelson Mandela has now died, and Gaba’s supposed warning has come to naught.   
   With that, the right wing has had a cornerstone of its apocalyptical mythology   
   rendered null and void. "The night of the long knives", as they phrased the   
   perceived threat, was in reality 10 days of almost universal grief and sorrow   
   at the loss of the country’s greatest icon, supplemented by the repeated call   
   to re-establish Mandela’s values of forgiveness and reconciliation. So it is   
   worth revisiting the incident, which unfolded over about two years, if only to   
   remind us of the kind of irrational fear that often lay beneath South   
   Africa’s   
   newfound freedom.   
      
   However, while that fear was unfounded, the political and judicial processes   
   responsible for accountability and justice at the time remain today as weak   
   and inefficient as they were back then, as Gaba’s story makes clear.   
      
   Fear and loathing on the N1   
      
   Late on Friday, November 7 1997, Gaba was returning from a cocktail function   
   at the Russian consulate in Bantry Bay, Cape Town. He was driving on the wrong   
   side of the N1 highway and was flagged down by police.   
      
   Gaba refused to stop, pulling over but driving off the first time. When he was   
   pulled over for a second time, with the help of the flying squad, he locked   
   himself in his car and had to be extricated. After eventually pulling him from   
   the vehicle, two police officers, Pieter Boetge and David Wheeler, claimed   
   Gaba told them: "When Mandela dies, we will kill you whites like flies." He   
   also allegedly threatened to petrol-bomb their homes.   
      
   Gaba was arrested for drunken driving, threatening a police officer and   
   resisting arrest. Half a bottle of alcohol and two glasses were found in his   
   car. He spent the night in jail.   
      
   It later emerged that Gaba’s blood alcohol content was 0.17g/100ml — more   
   than   
   double the legal limit at the time of 0.08g/100ml.   
      
   On Monday, November 10 1997, Gaba left for business in Demark. He apologised   
   "unconditionally" before leaving, and praised the police for their "good   
   work".   
      
   In depth: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela 1918- 2013   
   MandelaNews and views on the death, and life, of former president Nelson   
   Mandela, with tributes and photographs   
      
   The ANC caucus leader in the Cape Town metro council, David Dali, said he   
   intended "to take the matter no further", after objections to the lack of   
   consequences were raised by the Democratic Party (DP) and National Party (NP).   
   He said that "based on his (Gaba’s) unconditional apology, we see no need to   
   take any action".   
      
   The never-ending story   
      
   The media took up the issue. In an editorial on November 13, The Citizen   
   stated: "Instead of trying to defend Mr Gaba and condemning the NP for   
   compiling a register of alleged racist remarks, the ANC should be taking   
   disciplinary action against him or any other member who makes such remarks.   
   And Mr Gaba should be the first to be put on the carpet."   
      
   On November 15 1997, the ANC provincial working committee relented and   
   announced it was instigating full disciplinary action against Gaba. ANC   
   Western Cape spokesperson Brent Simons said: "As an organisation committed to   
   non-racialism and reconciliation, we condemn in the strongest possible terms   
   the statements allegedly made by Gaba. We also distance ourselves from the   
   statements. While we welcome his unreserved apology, the (committee) decided   
   to establish this inquiry."   
      
   Following a huge public outcry during the week, the DP and NP moved motions   
   against Gaba in council, the NP calling for full censure and the DP that he be   
   removed from all committees. Both motions were adopted by a majority.   
      
   In an editorial on November 17, Die Burger said the inquiry was welcome,   
   describing it as a "small hurrah". In a November 19 editorial, the Cape Times   
   wrote: "In other countries he could face a prison sentence and suspension of   
   his driver’s licence, quite apart from his racial threats. Here, if anything,   
   his threats are more serious, in their impact on reconciliation."   
      
   On May 12 1998, it was reported that the drunken-driving charge against Gaba   
   was struck from the roll in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court at his sixth   
   appearance after two key witnesses, Boetge and Wheeler, failed to appear. At   
   the time, the ANC inquiry was still not resolved, but Cameron Dugmore, a   
   member of the committee, said the court decision was not the end of the   
   matter: "What’s happened in court does not inspire confidence in the judicial   
   system." The state subsequently charged Gaba again.   
      
   On May 24, a suggestion was made in the Cape Town council that provincial   
   police commissioner Leon Wessels be asked to investigate why the case was   
   struck from the roll. The ANC opposed the suggestion, on the grounds the   
   courts were still investigating.   
      
   On June 2, Gaba appeared before court. His trial was set for August 17 and 18.   
   He applied for legal aid but was denied. A "mystery" donor stepped in to help   
   fund his defence.   
      
   After further delays, when Gaba’s court appearance did happen, on October 8,   
   he pleaded not guilty to the charge of drunken driving and threatening and   
   obstructing the police.   
      
   In his defence, he alleged the police officers had ridiculed him about his   
      
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