In an extreme effort to aid South African artists fight piracy that has driven them into poverty and out of business, Mzwakhe Mbuli is leading the charge on the crisis of media piracy. Chairman of the Campaign Against Piracy in South Africa, as reported by Sowetan in ZAHARA FAKES EXPOSED. Mbuli says the situation has gotten out of hand. "We will now fight violence with violence. Artists get injured when they are out campaigning against this crime. The pirates attack them when they fight for their bread. We say: no more! Enough is enough."

Creative Works Union of South Africa president Mabutho "Kid" Sithole issued a warning of crisis in the streets of South African cities, as reported by Sowetan in PIRACY COULD LEAD TO VIOLENCE - UNION. Sithole said, "On May 11 1979, just before the June 16 Uprising, principals from schools around Soweto warned the government about the impending danger. Their warning was not taken seriously, and we all know what happened after that." (Reference to Soweto Uprising, when students took to the streets and apartheid police opened fire on them. Mzwakhe Mbuli was one of the youth who -- after watching classmates drop to the street -- managed to survive the tragic event that opened the eyes of the world to what was going on in South Africa. Many youth did not survive. Among survivors, many fled across borders after the Uprising; Mzwakhe was one who stayed to continue the struggle for justice.) That the leadership among creative workers has indicated that artists may be forced to take to the streets in order to feed their families shows how serious the piracy situation has become.

South African artists lose an estimated R500 million each year due to piracy. The RISA anti-piracy unit is charged with tackling the issue, and the Chief Superintendent of Johannesburg Metro Police Department asserts that police are involved in a massive campaign to seize the fake CDs and DVDs and arrest the sellers. Despite that, police have been observed buying the pirated items and allowing them to be sold. Pirates are well-equipped and have been able to hack into systems of entertainment companies to reproduce music, movies and games. The public is not well-informed about laws prohibiting piracy, and musicians are often not aware of copyright laws. Artist activists intend to change that with the current campaign. Artists have battled corruption in South Africa for some time. In 2007, Sowetan reported that radio DJs were demanding payola from South African (and not from foreign-based) artists to get airtime. South African radio has long been dominated by American music. Unlike American artists, South Africans must even pay when they are interviewed.

South Africans are certainly not the only artists who are under the crush of payola and piracy. These issues are international. At the recent 2011 Latin Grammy Awards, reggaeton duo Calle 13 -- who are Eduardo Cabra Martinez a.k.a. Visitante and Rene Perez Joglar a.k.a. Residente broke several records: for most Grammy Awards won in a career and also in a single night. Among the 2011 awards was Album of the Year. Setting aside the duo's moment of glory, Perez felt strongly enough about payola to use the acceptance speech opportunity to make a controversial plea about the problem of payola in Latin music radio. Payola is rampant in Latin music, but the establishment was not happy about his reference, so cameras cut quickly to the show hosts, who rambled with filler as Perez repeated four times his mantra, "No a la payola!" (or "Say no to payola!") as reported in the NPR story on Latin Grammys: Speech Demands End to Payola .

Tutu pulled no punches, saying that "struggle veterans are turning in their graves" over what he believes is a departure from the values of South Africa's widely celebrated Constitution. One struggle veteran, Mzwakhe Mbuli, is not in a grave but could be said to have been buried alive by corruption and a longstanding police vendetta. That vendetta failed to produce information about people who had tried several times to assassinate Mbuli, led to his being charged and convicted wrongly of armed robbery, for which he served a heavy sentence.     A frame of reference is that American actress Lindsay Lohan was alleged to have stolen a necklace worth less than the amount of money that Mbuli was wrongly accused of stealing, and – if she had even gone to trial – would have been given a maximum sentence of six months in a facility for white-collar criminals. Another reference would be the comment of Mbuli's beloved uncle, who told the press that the amount Mbuli had been accused of stealing was "comparable to what he would routinely have given to the poor.") Mbuli was in no "white-collar" facility but rather a condemned cell for some time, was thrown in with the most notorious prison with the worst hardened criminals in horrific conditions and was sentenced to 13 years. During that time, his mother and two of his brothers died, and he was not permitted to attend the funerals.

The vendetta against Mbuli is connected with failure to bring to justice the murderer of Mbuli's beloved uncle, Mandla Mbuli. Police framed Mbuli again for trumped-up charges following his uncle's death, despite testimony of witnesses to the contrary. He was charged all over again with very serious crimes, and energy was put into incriminating him rather than finding the murderer, and it took several years to gain acquittal. He suffered greatly, and his career and reputation were trashed internationally.

Mzwakhe Mbuli has often said that the struggle for justice is not yet over, and it seems the same for him personally. In early October 2011, Mbuli opened a case at Mondeor police station in Johannesburg following an August incident Mbuli said that his wife and he were having a domestic issue and that she had gotten a warrant to come and collect clothing from the Mbuli home. South Africa's The Times reported that Mbuli said, "She came with General Sibiya and 30 police officers.. ..there were about 10 cars parked outside the house."

The Times reported that Mbuli called police action "excessive and unjustified" and said he had also reported the incident to the Independent Complaints Directorate and the public protector. "It was an abuse of his power; it rminded me of the old apartheid days," he said.

When Mbuli complained about treatment by police while incarcerated as a suspect for the robbery charge, he was treated very badly. In retaliation for the charge he filed in court, police took him through the streets in a gigantic cage, shackled and cuffed. He was beaten when he complained of tight handcuffs. Most people have no idea that, even under the ANC government, torture of suspects is still legal. Amnesty International's Annual Reports on Human Rights in South Africa hold shocking revelations.

Because torture of suspects -- despite abolition of apartheid --is still not illegal, it is not even possible to bring charges of torture. A South African paper reported in recent history that police had admitted to torture of an accused pastor and that he had been placed for some time in a mortuary freezer after electric shock had been applied to his genitals. One can only wonder about Mbuli's ordeals.

Efforts against Mbuli from the government he helped bring to power and for which he endured detention, solitary confinement and torture have not been confined to the police. Mbuli has often been honored as a cultural icon on South Africa's Heritage Day in KZ/N. To many, Mbuli personifies arts and culture. He has not spent all his time battling injustice or fighting – quite the contrary. He has put substantial effort into honoring others who made major contributions after they have passed on. Miriam Makeba remains the undisupted historic champion of South African arts. She advanced the struggle for justice immeasurably on the world stage, at her own expense. Following her tragic death at a time not long after she had finally been able to return home after long exile due to apartheid, it took South Africa three years to honor the late icon of whom the entire continent boasted ownership. That was not due to lack of interest, for Mzwakhe Mbuli put together an extensive tribute concert for which he and other artists rehearsed for more than a year, but it could not be staged for another year because the (now-former) Minister of Culture, Lulu Xingwana, blocked the tribute just one day before it was to be presented to the public as a free concert, disappointing thousands of planned attendees and millions of fans. Her reason given was that she questioned why National Lottery money which enabled the venture was given to Mzwakhe Mbuli, whom she called "a convicted fraudster with a criminal record." People internationally were shocked that South Africa would go to such lengths and neglect to honor Mama Africa just to carry out a vendetta against someone widely known to have been innocent.

The concert finally took place, and Mbuli made sure that the opportunity was used also to honor runner Caster Semenya, who won the 2009 800m world championship in Germany. Following victory, Semenya was hounded and persecuted related to questions regarding her eligibility to compete in the women's competition. She was understandably traumatized by the controversy, and Mbuli gathered artists to produce a tribute album to benefit Semenya that was released by EMI Music South Africa. In 2011, Semenya again brought honor to her country when she bravely re-entered the scene after a long hiatus and placed second, saying she was running to bring honor to the beloved Mandela.

Mzwakhe Mbuli believes in gratitude and paying respect, true to his heritage and upbringing, and he has not confined his accolades to those still around to thank him. His Siyabakhumbula Awards have taken place for two years so far; he created the project to remind people about those who have passed on and to extend appreciation (and even monetary award) to their families. Many honorees did not receive sufficient attention while alive, and some died poor and disconsolate. Mbuli has not confined his honors to the artistic community. The project has necessitated extensive research on his part, and he has included people from all racial backgrounds and all walks of life, including journalism, athletics, academia, performing artists and even boxing, to name a few. "We forget what we ought to remember, and we remember what we ought to forget," Mbuli has said. "We dare not forget, lest we become a nation that does not only know its roots but where it is going." This comment could surely be made across the globe, not just in South Africa.

Piracy has made recording no longer profitable or appealing for Mbuli. Recent recordings have been in the gospel realm, such as EMI Music's Mzwakhe's Gospel Greats, so he has paid tribute not only to other people but, first of all, to the Lord. What he really needs to "get going," however, is a Presidential pardon. In the post 9/11 world of the Patriot Act, travel restrictions for those with convictions, he cannot travel to many countries. Indeed, his travel restriction today rivals what he went through under apartheid. Four ANC presidents of South Africa have held office since his travails started with false charges of robbery in 1997. Nelson Mandela visited him in prison (and was said to have given more time to his visit with Mzwakhe than he had given to the Queen of England), but subsequent Presidents Mbeki, Motlanthe and now Zuma have so far failed to issue the pardon he deserves. The popular and promulgated notion that a pardon must be applied for and contrition must be expressed (even for a crime that was never committed) is false. Former Justice Albie Sachs, hero of the movement for justice who gave service and one of his arms to the ANC's struggle for liberation, said when questioned at an event at Harvard Law School that "A President can give a pardon for any reason, and at any time."

President Zuma would do well for himself and for the ANC to realize that the time is overdue and the time is now. However disillusioned they may be at this point, people want to regain belief in the bright promise the world saw for the possibilities of an ANC government when Nelson Mandela was elected and Mzwakhe Mbuli poetically introduced Mandela's inaugural speech. Zuma is known for having taken care of Soweto Uprising participants who fled over the borders following the Uprising. Mzwakhe mbuli did not flee, and he needs some support now. The ANC's history could have been very different without his stalward and courageous support. Indeed, it all could have gone very differently had Mbuli not been the one brave enough and persuasive enough to address the concerns of an angry crowd at Daliwonga School that was assembled because authorities wanted to know who had set fire to the Mandela family home in Soweto after the Stompie Seipei debacle. A commission had been appointed to inquire into the matter, but the designees were afraid to enter the facility, and the raging crowd had locked the doors. It was Mzwakhe Mbuli who was chosen to take on the task of getting the public back on board with the ANC. Mzwakhe has come through for the ANC again and again, and it is time the ANC came through for him.

What better and more noble gesture than a very necessary pardon for Mzwakhe Mbuli, veteran of the Soweto Uprising and longtime servant of the people, to dispel criticism and reassure people -- perhaps even the irate and truly aggrieved former Archbishop and Nobel laureate, Desmond Tutu -- of ANC commitment to justice and intent to banish oppression and corruption.

Mzwakhe Mbuli deserves a PRESIDENTIAL PARDON which he requires to resume his international career as a performing artist. A hero of South Africa's movement for justice and a veteran of the Soweto Youth Uprising, he is a world-renowned musician and the beloved "People's Poet" of South Africa and a person widely known for strong moral character. He has been hounded by oppressors since the apartheid era.

The world was shocked when Mbuli was arrested in 1997 under circumstances widely viewed as suspect. Mbuli, who has national hero status and millions of fans in South Africa and whose CDs go platinum, was accused of robbing a bank of less money than he makes in one performance, undisguised and in broad daylight. He was denied bail although he had no prior criminal record and was tried and found guilty as though South Africa was still under apartheid.

While Mbuli was incarcerated, a former apartheid security police officer, Kobus Klopper, received amnesty from the TRC after confessing that apartheid security police planted contraband in Mbuli's home and that orders were issued from the high command office to "Remove Mbuli from society, to neutralise his political influence". Amnesty was granted the officer for confession of security police crimes against Mbuli in connection with official efforts under apartheid to falsely incriminate Mbuli in circumstances mirroring a 1997 charge also alleging similar contraband. Police failed to produce the item at time of trial, and the charge was dropped.

Despite "witness" tampering, lack of evidence, and suicide of one of Mbuli's arresting officers the night before his court date, the robbery conviction stood and was not overturned in an appeal process that was exhausted. After serving 2,222 days for a crime he never committed, Mzwakhe Mbuli was finally freed. His freedom to travel internationally as a performing artist and to live his life in well-deserved peace and prosperity will remain unjustly restricted until he receives a Presidential Pardon.

Please publicise this case and send respectful letters to South Africa's President Jacob Zuma requesting executive clemency for Mzwakhe Mbuli.

"Each nation gives life to democracy in its own way, and in line with its own traditions. But history offers a clear verdict: governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable, and more successful than governments that do not. This is about more than holding elections - it's also about what happens between them. Repression takes many forms, and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers.. ..No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end. In the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent institutions are the key to success - strong parliaments and honest police forces; independent judges and journalists; a vibrant private sector and civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in peoples' lives."

-- from speech given by BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, in Accra, to the Ghanaian Parliament on 11 July 2009.

(Note: Barack and Michelle Obama have
personally inscribed copies
of Mzwakhe Mbuli's Tribute to Mandela CD.)