The law in South Africa favours criminals

Author George Orwell reminded us that, “People who elect corrupt politicians, impostors, thieves and traitors are not victims but accomplices”.

His warning is, in many ways, an echo chamber of what is unfolding in South Africa.

We are facing a crisis of monumental proportions as our state is increasingly divided, hollowed out and weakened by those appointed to serve and oversee it.

Power in our hands

However, there are many ways we can save our increasingly dangerous and failing state.

To be successful we must change our failed governance and law enforcement systems, including our judicial policies and processes and the manner in which criminals are punished.

In South Africa, the law favours the criminals. The human rights of criminals should never have precedence over those of the victims.

If we are to restore the fabric of our politically-driven torn society and stop the rot, we need to start where the rot starts: at the very top tiers of national and local government.

Like criminals, the human rights of political leaders should never exceed those of the people they are entrusted to govern.

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Perhaps the time has come to follow the religious practice of chopping the hands off those who steal or have been found guilty of or implicated in corruption.

It will be very interesting to see who loses their hands – and who gets to keep theirs.

However, if this approach is followed, it is conceivable that we will have many politicians, municipal workers and managers, business leaders and their friends and followers wandering without hands.

The downside

On the downside of this approach: it will merely incentivise the thieving corrupters and their acolytes to expedite the already yet-to-be implemented and hated National Health Insurance scam so that they can get artificial hands on the cash rich medical funds and continue with their thievery and graft.

We must consider similar punishment for those found guilty of sabotaging infrastructure and the senseless burning of properties and vehicles, especially those who work hard at serving the public. Burning emergency service vehicles is beyond criminality.

The bitter experiences we have already been subjected to with so-called coalitions is nothing to look forward to.

Petty party politics, political agendas and larger than life egos has not done much – if anything – to fix matters at municipal levels.

In fact, it has resulted in political sabotage aimed at further disadvantaging the citizens.

The corruption and thievery in our municipalities is the result of unchecked and rampant entitlement, and is the reason so many municipalities are bankrupt, are in the process of failing, or have failed.

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When brave municipal staff have either tried to expose the corruption or act against it, political outcries have echoed across the land to protect the guilty and further disadvantage ratepayers.

The looming national elections may hold some surprises, or it may not. Regardless the outcome of the polls, the people who continually damage and destroy key infrastructure should have their hands publicly removed.

So too should those who express their anger by digging ditches across national roads, stoning vehicles and adopting anarchy as their voice of expression.

Corruption

Any government, regardless if it’s dominated by a ruling party or by a coalition group must clamp down – aggressively – on the violence our schools have become renowned for.

Pupils who assault teachers or use the school grounds to bully the weak, must be harshly and swiftly dealt with.

We live in a country endowed with great beauty and resources, with a people who can generally be classified as “good people”. But the example the government has set through its populist and racially-driven rhetoric has done much to divide our country.

We do not need such negative political leaders, regardless if they are from a dominant ruling party or a coalition of parties.

They must realise they’re servant leaders and not slave leaders. They work for all of SA’s people and must stop thinking the people work for them.

Having admitted it is accused number one when it comes to corruption, the ruling party ought to set the example and consider the severe punishment of hand removal of those who refuse to stop stealing.

If this type of punishment starts at the top, it will filter down to the common criminals and help repair our torn social fabric.

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