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| The Scorpions concern |
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Maureen Isaacson May 11 2008 at 01:52PM |
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Hugh "Bob" Glenister, the enigmatic Johannesburg businessman who calls himself "a concerned citizen" and has applied for an interdict in the Pretoria High Court against the government's plan to disband the Scorpions, talks volubly. President Thabo Mbeki has decided not to oppose Glenister's application and said he will abide by the ruling of High Court Judge Willie van der Merwe. So it remains for justice minister Bridget Mabandla and safety and security minister Charles Nqakula to respond to his challenge. Glenister says he has budgeted R1.5-million for this challenge but, if the courts don't find in his favour, he could be forking out a whole lot more. Even with the contribution of other people who don't want to see the Scorpions go this is a costly affair. But money seems not to be at issue here. "South Africa has been good to me. It's pay-back time," he says. "Somebody has stolen the soul of the ANC and I hope that it's glorious heart will be restored." How can he be sure of success when the case goes to court on May 20? "I will know only in 10 years if what I have done has benefited the country. My decision [to go to court] was based on passion, not analysis." His decision was "a crazy act which should not be required in a democracy". So is he crazy? He ponders: "Sanity is a relative term. Who am I to measure? I analyse everything I do but this particular decision required an act of passion, not analysis." Glenister says he is "a vacuum cleaner for reading", sucking up everyone from John Grisham to Friedrich Hayek, the Austrian-British Nobel economics laureate, political philosopher and defender of classic liberalism and free-market capitalism. He says he reads no newspapers and watches no TV but accesses information on the web, which might explain why he read about the government's intentions to disband the Scorpions "in a newsletter on January 21. When I read about it, I just knew I had to do this". This is indeed a noble gesture that seems to herald a new kind of activism, "entrepreneurial activism", if you like. In his affidavit, he said that "the dis-establishment of the DSO [Directorate of Special Operations, the formal name of the Scorpions] would harm the fight against crime, since the South African Police Service has proved itself to be less efficient than the DSO in various respects". Glenister, in his affidavit, is detailed in arguing for the retention of the Scorpions, though he says often that he is "not a detail man", that he employs "detail people". His portfolio is nonetheless impressive. His three companies, Roland, X Film and Digital Production Solutions, supply the creative industries with machinery, material and innovative technology. His Shram Properties owns the buildings in which the other companies operate and the Hamba Phambile Trust funds the education of Aids orphans. At 49, Glenister looks weathered, but strong and energetic. He is insistent that he is "nobody special - I'm just an arsehole who decided to stand up and say 'Enough!'. South Africa has been good to me. I want to give something back". "I am the match," he says, "to light the fire that the people of South Africa must fan. They must demand that the politicians listen to them. Nobody says the Scorpions are perfect, so let society debate the issue and come up with something." Menzi Simelane, director-general of the jusctic department, said earlier this month that the legislation Glenister was opposing was focused on forming a new unit that could fight "high-impact organised crime". But Glenister is unconvinced. He says: "Organised crime must be laughing and saying: 'Wowee - are we going to give this country a hiding!' "The worst is that, if this happens, organised crime and corrupt government officials are going to go unhindered. I am not aiming at any one in particular. "I have done this because I believe it needs to be done, I don't have an ulterior motive. I am not going to get anything out of it. I am horribly honest. If you do things that are ugly, society demands that you pay the price. The universe will pay you back." His challenge to the government is not motivated by religious belief. "I believe in spirituality but I am not motivated by that either. I have watched as accountability slowly slipped out of the window. In the 1980s, I fought hard against the bullying Nats with silent resistance, by promoting communication between all races. "I hate bullies with a passion. This current trend of [the government] doing what they want to do irritates me. We are constitutionally based and the government are servants of the people - they are there to assist everyone in society." He insists that he is "just a citizen and independent businessman. I am a self-educated, self-motivated, disconnected individual". The idea of disconnection crops up often. Glenister is a Scottish name. His maternal ancestry is Dutch and British. His paternal ancestry is vague. He was "born and bred" in Muldersdrift, near Johannesburg, where he grew up on a farm. He attended several schools because his parents, a hydraulics engineer and a nurse, were peripatetic farmers. The last of his schools was Brettonwood, in Durban. "I ran away in my matric year, 1976, the worst year in South Africa's history." He matriculated by correspondence and studied for, but did not complete, BCom and MBA degrees. Before that, he worked for the Post Office. "I was a pacifist and was not prepared to go into the military. In those days, service was a minimum of two years. You had a choice: the police, the railways or the Post Office. "I was trained as a telephone electrician and ended up as officer-in-charge of two-way radio for Natal. "Under apartheid, there was a lot to rail against. I am not a violent person. I used the opportunity to fight the system on my own. At the Post Office I trained my people up, I challenged the system internally. I could not get them the money they were due but [gave them] the knowledge. I don't accept colour, refused to accept it at any time. "At the time, when you turned 23, according to an old law, you could apply for permanent exemption from the military. At 23 I ducked. I worked for different communications companies then I decided to go on my own, in 1987." The intervening years have been good to him, he says. Glenister, who is divorced, has five children. He lives, it seems, in his head, rather than in the South Africa we have come to know. His house in Lonehill, just outside Johannesburg, has no security because "I believe private security is a step in the wrong direction. The primary function of a government is to ensure liberty. It is the only legal body that should be able to use violence to ensure that the citizens are free to do what they need to do". "I don't protect myself, I take my chances. I love people." On the internet blog of one of his relatives we learn that he is "a one-man government watchdog" and that his online petition has brought in 85 000 signatures. He says he has no fear that the government he has challenged will get nasty in response. After two hours in his company, I am still perplexed by his very bold and commendable decision to singlehandedly risk life and limb in this fight against crime. "Don't read too much into it. I am just an ordinary man. I am a lover of humanity. Why does it have to get more complicated?"
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