Changing culture v ndebele justice system continued

By The Standard and Newsday | Jun. 6, 2014

From what we have seen so far we can summarise the Ndebele justice system by highlighting some of its main features.

The chief is the judge. He does not act alone, but has a council of elders who advise him in addition to the general public of all those present during the trial.
A trial is participatory. All those present may ask questions or express their opinions about the case. Usually any stray opinion is short down by the people.
Both the complainant and the accused are given ample time to present their case without harassment or intimidation. They speak for themselves. Witnesses have a chance to testify.
A trial is short but thorough. It is very rare for a trial to go beyond a day. It is unlikely that the guilty will escape punishment. You don’t have to wait for days before you know your fate (there is no justice delayed).
Both the verdict and the sentences are pronounced there and then and punishment is meted “now” or at the earliest possible time. Only capital punishment is never executed in public. The offender is dragged away to some secluded spot (usually a hill or thicket) a distance away from the village.
A trial takes place as close to the time of offence as possible. There are rarely any pending cases. No time is wasted on what is called “investigations” Bring the offender before the inkundla yamadoda and they will “cook him” ( bazampheka) iqiniso liphume.
The Ndebele court is characterized by deep respect and fear of the chief and the court itself. Amadoda angakudla nxa udelela induna, ungahloniphi inkundla. Ungalala phansi loba udliwe imbuzi .( Lesi yisiNdebele esiphezulu.)
Acquittals of the innocent are the order of the trials but there is little chance of the guilty to escape punishment. The elders know and understand their work and there is very little chance of convicting an innocent person in as much there is little chance of the guilty getting away.

These and many others are some of the main features of the Ndebele justice system. It must be pointed out that no justice system in the world is perfect and certainly not the Ndebele one. But if its main features are examined is there no case for resuscitating some of them?

There are many people who reject trials in an Ndebele court saying that the trial is crude and unstructured and that the conditions under which a trial is conducted are not very conducive, because, as usually happens, the court convenes not in a courtroom with people not sitting on (comfortable?) benches and chairs.

Yes, but can those conditions not be improved but without changing the order and nature of the trial system? One suspects that what these people are against is the lack of much affialdom as well as those people called lawyers who are allowed to open holes into a straightforward case in such a way that wrongdoers can escape justice. In the Ndebele system there is no room for smooth talking and there are no legal niceties to explain away an obvious wrong that has been committed.

We therefore suspect that the real reason why people don’t like to be tried in a traditional Ndebele court is that there they have no chance to wriggle out of a case . Inkundla iligubha icala liphume dandalazi umoni asale esenqunu egqokile.

One more case will conclude this series on the Ndebele justice system for now.

Mhlupheki stole into Mgezelwa’s banana grove and chopped seven bunches which he carried away and hid in a cave at the foot of a hill. Later, Sazini Ncube tumbled on that “ hidden treasure” wathi ngibonwa yini- inkosikayiphi ezandleni. He carried them away and three days later his children were selling bananas emsikeni (at open market) Mgezelwa chose to report the matter of the missing bananas to the local chief.

Meanwhile Mhlupheki went to Ncube and demanded his bananas he had left in a cave. Ncube denied any knowledge of the bananas and advised Mgezelwa to report the matter to the chief. Mgezelwa could not because he would be giving himself away. A court was convened where Ncube was the accused. In the end the true facts were established and Mgezelwa was the main accused and he was punished severely.

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NDLOVU: Ncube , isela nguwe; nguwe owantshontsha amabhanana ka Mgezelwa. NCUBE: Baba Nyandeni , nduna yethu. Mina amabhanana ngawafumana etshwathikwe ebhalwini ngase ngizithathela. NGULUBE: Selandini ! Ungafica ulutho lufihliwe usuzithathela? Hi? Ubusela kanti buyini ? Khona uvele wabonwa ngubani “uwadobha”? Wawathatha ensimini ka Mgezelwa. NCUBE: Hatshi , baba nduna kangizange ngingene ensimini ka Mgezelwa. Kuthangi ngimangele uMhlupheki efika kimi esithi ufuna amabhanana akhe kimi. Mhlawumbe nguye ongatsho ukuthi afika njani ebhalwini. INDUNA: Hawu, mahlabezulu, nansi insumansumane. Ithiwani indaba nxa isingena lapha iphume iyongena lapha iphume iyongena laphayana? NYONI: Baba Nyandeni, thole lesizwe. Indaba isisegcekeni. UNcube lo-Mhlupheki bayazana .Kabasitshele okuzwakalayo. INDODA ENYE: Ye, liqiniso lelo. Kabakhulume . Ngamasela. MHLUPHEKI: UNcube uyangigcona bakithi. Ngubani owangibonayo ngisiya kuye? Ngangizabe ngilandani mina amabhanana lawo ngingawazi? Katshiyane lami. NGULUBE: Mhlupheki, ungacatshi ngomunwe ungumuntu omdala. Kawufikanga ku Ncube, uqinisile? Siveze ubufakazi na? MHLUPHEKI: Kangiboni ukuthi ubufakazi obudingekayo ngobani. Kanti nxa ngangisiya kuNcube ngangisiya khuluma ngamabhanana yini mina ngingawazi? NYONI: Yetshwa ! Indlubu isiphumile ekhasini . Baba Nyandeni, nduna yethu, kambe singabe sisayaphambili silandani? UMhlupheki usevumile. Kasitshele nje ukuthi amabhanana wonke wawathwaliswa ngubani. NGULUBE: Ye, kasitshele. Amaxha ayisikhombisa wayengazake awathwale yedwa. Engxenye waye lomfazi wakhe. Sukuma MaThwala . Wayithwalisa indoda yakho? MATHWALA: Nyandeni, baba, lomphakathi ohloniphekayo. Mina kangazi lutho ngendaba le. Ngezwa nje owangakwami esithi ulezinto zakhe eqaqeni afuna ngiyemthwalisa zona kusihlwa zilethwe ngekhaya.

Further details of this case have not been exposed in this short except. It is pointed out that by Ndebele standards this was a long trial which lasted half a day. The point that is being made is that the truth was exposed without all the sophistry of a glamorous court and all the expensive rigmarole.

Think if Mgezelwa had chosen to report the matter to the police. All the fuss: policemen, magistrate, prosecutor, lawyers, interpreters, court officials , witnesses, the lot ! Perhaps the case would still be going on today (June 6 2014) having been postponed to September 18, 2014 (Justice delayed).

Well, well, which way?