George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm and its narrative that ‘all animals are equal but some are more equal than others’ is still relevant in our modern-day South Africa.
A form of apartheid in the country still exists, but it has changed colour and format – it still applies in the new South Africa and, most importantly, is now being practised by those who fought so hard to free this country from the chains of the segregated system.
Today, if you have money in South Africa, you have the freedom to delay or nullify the legal process, as many have done, including our number one citizen.
But sadly, not the same can be said about the poor. If you’re poor, the law may never be on your side. You can get thrown into jail for something that never happened, or get arrested for a frivolous offence and await trial for many months, if not years.
The other day, a poor HIV positive woman was picked up by the cops on allegations of theft and spent three days in jail, only to be released when the police’s case fell apart.
Calling it a case is a gross misuse of the word. Let me put you in the picture. The woman, whose husband died a couple of years back, befriended a frail and elderly woman from a neighbourhood apartment across the street.
The elderly woman is so frail she can no longer cook or wash herself. So the good Samaritan came to the rescue and bathed her, cooked, ironed and cleaned for this frail granny.
The granny confided in her that she had been raped by some thugs who broke into her apartment, and helped themselves to whatever they could lay their hands on. She said she was too scared to report the incident, despite the Samaritan’s insistence that she should.
In a cruel twist, the granny allegedly then had the nerve to go to the police and report that her pension or grant card was ‘missing’, and she suspected the Samaritan of stealing it.
The police then arrested the woman for theft and locked her up. Three days later, the frail granny finds her card and reports the finding to the cops who then release the Samaritan with no apology or anything.
She is on ARVs and for three days was without medication after asking the cops to dispatch a van to collect the medicine from her apartment.
The issue here is where is the old and cardinal rule of the police conducting an initial investigation to establish a prima facie case before making an arrest.
The poor Aids woman is not alone. Many others have suffered her fate and have been accused of something they did not do, leading to their arrests without police carrying out proper investigations.
But some people continue to escape justice because they have money or a high profile and are deemed untouchable. But sadly, not the poor.
