John GI Clarke

The Promise of Justice connects history with geography, faith with science, economics with ecology and law with politics in telling an inspirational story of hope. In 1895 Cape Prime Minister Cecil John Rhodes arbitrarily imprisoned King Sigcau ka Mqikela of the Mpondo nation for siding with his Chiefs against the harsh impositions of 19th century British colonial rule in South Africa. In 2010 President Jacob Zuma deposed his descendent King Justice Sigcau, mimicking history and threatening to reverse the Mpondo’s success in preventing their ancestral lands from being turned into profit; their traditional way of life undermined by ‘development’; and the Wild Coast domesticated to colonial and neo-colonial powers. In search of justice both kings took their cases to the highest courts. The Promise of Justice is written in four parts (each published as separate e-Books) and published in print version in two books. Book One, The Story, looks back for lessons from recent post-apartheid history. It summarises the back-story that got King Justice Sigcau into trouble with the South African government, notably his opposition to the mining of coastal dunes of the Mpondoland Wild Coast, and the associated construction of a massively expensive new highway near to the coastal dunes. Book Two, His Story looks back to see what may be learned from pre-apartheid 19th Century history, and sharpens the focus on the courtroom dramas of two Mpondo Kings to save the Mpondo nation from co-option and subversion by an Australian venture capital mining company in collusion with corrupted business partners, state officials and influential politicians in the ruling party. Because of the South African National Road Agency’s (SANRAL) culpable failure to ensure transparency and effective public participation in its tolling plans, woven into His Story is another story: the story of the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance’s (OUTA) court battle over SANRAL’s plans to impose urban tolling on Gauteng motorists. Together the stories show what an active citizenry can do to hold government accountable, build peace through justice, and reconciliation through truth. Book Three, My Story, looks inward to narrate how the writers own ancestors helped ‘write’ the wrongs of his own family history in its intersection with His Story to create a rich tapestry of meaning by integrating the inward and outward journeys. To distil the deeper, universal, spiritual and ethical issues, Book Four, Our Story, reflects back on the writers peace-building efforts to promote an ‘olive agenda’ in resolving conflicts between mining rights and human rights, in situations where valuable non-renewable natural resources have been discovered but significant social resistance, geographical obstacles and environmental sensitivities obstruct their easy exploitation.