Judicial Criminality

In a racist society, what does it mean to be a judge of law? When judges in a racist society sentence their political opponents to death, do they not then stand in contempt of Man and in need of being tried themselves? Since Nuremberg, international law is clear that such judges bear responsibility and must be prosecuted, but in South Africa no such move has been made. Yet, as this chapter reveals, the weight of evidence implicating the South African judiciary in crimes against humanity is clear to see when it comes to the imposition of the death penalty on captured armed combatants from the ANC’s military wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and with regard to the misuse of the law of “common purpose” to impose capital punishment on African people involved in politically motivated township protest. This is drawn out through a critical re-interpretation of two high-profile cases: that of MK cadre, Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, and the harrowing plight of the Sharpeville Six.