Do you know who I am?

By Ori Ben-zeev

I remember hearing a story a couple of years ago about an Austrian prime minister who parked illegally and received a fine. Are you ready for the twist? He paid it and apologised. Definitely something unheard of in many, if not most, places in the world: a government official that does not act like he or she is above the law. Although not unique to South Africa, the recent standoff between Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the two police officers that stopped her for speeding makes one wonder about the relationship of government officials and political party veterans and the law. This was anything but an isolated incident, considering the various controversies involving blue-light brigades, and the general reaction to the media when they expose corruption and dodgy dealings in government that we have seen over the past couple of years.

Our Constitution unequivocally states that in South Africa the rule of law is supreme. At least theoretically, or legally, no one is above the law. And yet, when the top dogs get caught out, their immediate reaction is almost always the same: an angry, arrogant “do you know who I am?” Suddenly their names are elevated above the law, and not only can they do no wrong, but that anyone who tries to get in their way should be punished. And so the law is treated as nothing more than a cloud that lies about halfway up the ladder of power, raining down on us regular people, but not affecting those that have crawled above it. The damage caused to our democracy by the attitude of those in power towards the law cannot be disregarded.

Although in the incident involving Madikizela-Mandela the two officers were the less powerful, the police are not always innocent in this regard. I personally have been stopped many times by officers looking for some extra lunch or early Christmas presents. Of course, their badge and uniform gives them the authority to stop me to check my brake lights, or to inform me of the two millimetres that my car rolled over the stop sign. I have it lucky: I am a citizen, I know my rights, and no doubt the fact that I am a white boy from Sandton counts for something. There are many others that have less power to speak against the police. In essence, we’re all on the hierarchy, with those above holding power over those below. The law is just something we invoke in order to assert that power, often against those that the law is meant to protect: the most vulnerable people in society.

This illustrates the problem with the “do you know who I am?” argument. One would imagine that police officers are given marks of authority because they are meant to play a specific role and fulfil the duties of their office as police officers and not for their own enjoyment. Similarly, political offices in a democracy are about specific roles and functions within the republic. The honour of being president is not about the title and job perks, but about the responsibility of running the country and fulfilling its goals. The president is therefore not the big cheese that can do what he or she likes, but is the servant to all of us, the people of South Africa. The same applies to all public offices. Since political parties act in the public interest (or at least profess to do so), the same applies to them. The ANC’s constitution sets out as its aims, among others, the fight for social justice and the economic development of all. The fact that its top members live in opulent luxury while most of its members are poor is serious, and not something to be dismissed by top officials who speak for themselves only.

The reaction to the media is therefore troubling. The general complaint against the media last year was that it was harassing people and infringing their rights to dignity and privacy when in essence all that it was doing was exposing the abuse of public offices. Certainly none of us are fond of dictators that abuse their power to enrich themselves at the expense of starving people around them. This is exactly why our Constitution makes the law supreme — to protect the public offices that are meant to be used to national benefit from being exploited for the benefit of a few. That these offices are being abused should be a grave concern and an outrage, and not something that we should turn our eyes away from for the sake of privacy. As the Ancient Greek orator Pericles famously commented about democracy: “We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.” Public officials are meant to perform a service for us. It is crucial that we pay attention to the manner in which they do so, and take the abuse of their positions seriously.

Democracy is not meant to be a name game. We, the people, are meant to rule, by our vote every five years and by our engagement with society every day. No hot-shot in a suit or luxury car is meant to trump over everyone. The way that we enforce this and enjoy real democracy is by a system of law that binds everyone, irrespective of their office or wealth. So to all those high in power who think that they are too special to follow the rules: do you know who I am? I am one of the millions of South Africans that hold you to account. Do you have any idea what We can do?

Ori Ben-zeev is a BA-LLB student in his final year at Wits University. His main interests are democracy, constitutional law, human rights law and media law.