For South Africa to survive, we must publicly hold everyone accountable

The violence of the past five days in two of our nine provinces has shown us, again, that there are continually important lessons to learn about our society. There’s a simple underlying message though: things must change or this pattern will repeat itself ad nauseam. One of the key lessons is that there must be legal accountability for the lawbreakers. 

It is obvious that the people who created, arranged and participated in the violence all broke the law. But, if they are held properly accountable — from those who fomented it, all the way to those who simply took part in it — it may be that the roots of our recovery as a nation lie in this violence.

However, this recovery would have to include real accountability, and real transparency within the State Security Agency, Crime Intelligence and other branches of the almost atrophied security cluster. The ANC has singularly failed to allow this accountability to happen in the past, to the detriment of the entire nation.

It is well known that there is an alarming lack of respect for our laws. During the years of apartheid, the law did not have moral legitimacy and to defy it was sometimes a moral priority. One of the main elements of the Mandela project was to change this, to show that the law was legitimate. This happened through the introduction of the Constitution and Madiba’s own willingness to testify in front of a court when ordered to do so by a judge.

But there are dizzyingly many ways in which our laws have been ignored or disrespected for many years.

At the peak of this disrespect, during Jacob Zuma’s presidency, the law was an uncomfortable annoyance one could easily get around. Zuma was able to use his political power to bend the National Prosecuting Authority to withdraw the charges against him, to start with, and things only went downhill from there.

Across South Africa, on a constant basis, taxi drivers break the law at will. Police officers ask for and receive bribes, speeding fines are not paid. This affects all aspects of society, from passengers who tell taxi drivers to speed them to work and home, to the middle classes who have expired car licences. Politically exposed personalities are treated with kid gloves. Court process is being abused daily in a never-ending gigantic Stalingrad orgy, with the most powerful leading the way.

Why are we surprised now as we watch at least 200 malls in KZN and Gauteng being looted on live TV? We’ve been laying down this disrespect of law for many years.

In this darkest of moments, the need for clear accountability is greater than ever.

If people in our communities are able to enjoy the fruits of looting, and if a TV or a fridge in a household, or 10 flat-screen TVs in a garage full of luxury cars are known to be the result of looting, there is nothing to stop future generations from doing the same thing.

Television images have shown men, women and children, some in school uniforms, removing goods from shops. Those children are unlikely to know why their actions are wrong.

However, if people who are identified as having stolen goods are held accountable through the legal process, this could change.