Some 800 years ago, the Magna Carta (Latin for ”the Great Charter”), also called Magna Carta Libertatum (Latin for ”the Great Charter of the Liberties”) was signed between King John of England and a group of rebel barons, at Runnymede, near Windsor, on June 15, 1215, to bring about peace between them.
At its heart is the idea that the law is not simply the whim of the king, or the government. It is the great egalitarian legacy of Magna Carta, that all are equal under the law, and all can be held to account.
At the time, the Magna Carta did not hold much power and, over the centuries, it faded in and out of existence, being interpreted and applied in various ways.
Yet, the spirit of the Magna Carta lived on and it has a left a lasting legacy of influencing so many of our rights and freedoms, including parliamentary democracy, fair trial and a series of controls on the abuse of arbitrary power.
In particular, we might say that the Magna Carta calls for the rule of law in opposition to the rule of unreasonable men. Furthermore, the rule of law is to be secured by an attachment to the due process of law.
This humble piece of parchment is thus celebrated for creating the very concept that all men are equal.
It also influenced the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ((UDHR) and also America’s Bill of Rights (nine of the 26 provisions in the Bill of Rights can be traced back to the Magna Carta).
For those who don’t know, the UDHR is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, at the Palais de Chaillot, Paris.
The declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled.
For Africa, the Magna Carta also holds significance, as it should remind us that, ultimately, to secure a thriving society, no one is above the law.
After all, the Magna Carter throughout the ages shaped people’s reassertion of rights against an oppressive ruler, a legacy that, for example, captured American distrust of concentrated political power.
Oppressive rule has, sadly, been the Achilles heel of African welfare.
Too many leaders and governments have, over the years, regarded themselves as being above the law, which has led to brutal dictatorship and tyrannical rule.
One such leader was Idi Amin Dada, who was the third President of Uganda, ruling from 1971 to 1979.
Amin’s rule was characterised by human rights abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption and gross economic mismanagement.
The number of people killed as a result of his regime is estimated by international observers and human rights groups to range from 100 000 to 500 000.
Here in South Africa, all citizens, especially those in positions of power, should be strongly reminded that no one is above the law, lest we want to continue Africa’s self-destructive tendencies of corruption, abuse of power and dictatorship.
Yet, this has not always been the case in SA’s history since 1994. Corruption remains rife in this country – thus there still exists the idea that some are higher than the law of the land, which leads to abuse of power, which undermines the welfare of the nation.
Still, regularly, money and power are being thrown around to somehow bypass the rule of law for own benefit and self-glory.
This is not in the spirit of the Magna Carta, but speaks of the continuing woe of Africa’s sordid affair with corrupt governance.
Only once the ideal of this charter is upheld – that all citizens abide by the rule of law – will a brighter future dawn for a South Africa that remains shrouded in the shade of dictatorship.
