“We don't want to save the post 1994 South Africa – we want a different country," said activist and co-founder of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) Zackie Achmat recently. He delivered a special lecture at the Stellenbosch University (SU) Museum on the Stellenbosch campus on Wednesday (11 October 2017).

Achmat spoke about 'The Constitution as an Instrument for Social Justice and Transformation: the Courts as Sites for Social Activism'. The lecture was organised by the Research Chair in Historical Trauma and Transformation at SU as part of their Public Dialogue monthly lecture series in collaboration with the SU Museum.

Zackie, who fought for free anti-retrovirals for those living with HIV/Aids, was critical of the state and said it relies on money, mostly company taxes, to do what it wants. Achmat described this a form of “lawless discipline".

“The state acts in such a way as to get the taxes it needs to then use in ways that lead to the division of wealth and labour. In short: state capture."

However, the capturing of intellectuals, of thought is worse than state capture, he argued.

Achmat highlighted how some use their race (to get positions, influence) to deny other people racial and other equalities.

In this regard, he highlighted the story of Metrorail – starting with the creation of the Rail Commuters Action Group in the early 2000s and finishing in the recent past, with the exposing of the vast corruption under PRASA's ex-CEO Lucky Montana.

The lecture was followed by a Q&A session, facilitated by Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Chair of Historical Trauma Transformation, at SU. Issues such as student activism, research in the post-modernist era, the division of coloured and black people in the Western Cape and the alienation of coloureds from politics were mentioned.

“Zackie has been blazing the trails in campaigns for social justice since his political and community work in Treatment Action Campaign," Gobodo-Madikizela said.

She added: “he has an incredible depth of knowledge about how problems at the political level play out and affect communities on the ground. And this is because he is not a 'desk' activist, but is fully involved and connected with the communities who feel the consequences of irresponsible government the most. His lecture illustrated this point most poignantly."