SCA Zim farmer’s ruling proves rule of law can’t be tossed into a bin

The ANC has not covered itself in glory when it comes to how it has dealt with events north of our border in Zimbabwe – nor with the consequences of those events.

Its shameful lack of action when the then Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe effectively stole an election from under the noses of South African poll observers in 2002 was not solely to blame on our then leader, Thabo Mbeki.

He clearly didn’t want his vision of an “African Renaissance” disturbed by awkward things like democracy.

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The governing party’s later actions, though, confirmed that it was not willing to bring Mugabe, or his Zanu-PF henchmen, to heel.

Perhaps if Pretoria had been more forceful, then there may not have been an exodus of millions of people to the south.

Even more shameful – given the ANC’s supposed commitment to human rights and the rule of law – was former president Jacob Zuma’s role in disbanding the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal … a court of last resort to protect citizens in the SADC from grievous overreach by their governments.

The test case for the commitment of the SADC governments to those lofty ideals came when white Zimbabwean farmers sought compensation after being forced from their land by war veterans and Zanu-PF thugs from 2000 onwards.

Zuma and the rest of the antidemocratic leaders in this region removed the last vestiges of justice and fair play from the farmers.

So, it is fitting that a South African court has ruled that because of that illegal and irrational move by Zuma, our government may well be liable for compensation for the farmers.

But, what is important is not whether the farmers get paid, it is that the principal of human rights and adherence to the rule of law cannot be tossed into the dustbin.