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Uplifting blacks will build nation

THE GREATEST single threat to our democracy since the release of our iconic Nelson Mandela is arguably our failure to fundamentally transform our police and courts.

Like the centrality of education, the judicial system holds the key to the functionality of any democratic society.

The success of any legitimately democratic and transforming developmental nation building requires an equally complementary, effective and efficient criminal justice system for a shared vision.

To achieve these the intrinsic relationship between policing and interpreting laws must owe allegiance to the people, not act against them, or we will simply superficially continue where apartheid colonialism left off.

The worrisome manner of resisting change as always displayed by conservative political forces masquerading as policy lobby groups, including especially Afriforum, Solidarity and some civil society organisations, often serves nothing more than a narrow Afrikanerdom pursuit in defence of racism and sustained wealth at the expense of nation-building and a better life for all. These forces use both the police and courts to resist political change.

Our vision for democratisation will ring hollow unless we urgently and fundamentally transform how the police and courts function and how these important institutions grasp their interrelated roles.

All progressive people must insist that blacks in general and Africans in particular are qualified and capacitated to deserve equal opportunities.

Bennitto Motitswe, Tshwane

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