We should all be scared, very scared!

DO YOU remember when you were at the beginning of the end of this great country?

I remember it very well. I was just pouring myself a second glass of some really excellent whisky my son gave me for my birthday when news came in that
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had been allowed to leave Mzansi and return home.

In years to come historians will write about this event as a defining moment in South Africa’s final collapse and its descent into being a true failed state.

Before we go on, let’s just agree on one thing: al-Bashir is not a nice guy.

He’s been accused of being behind a campaign of mass murder and rape in his home country after coming to power through a violent coup. He also allegedly embezzled state funds to the tune of R36 billion.

But like so many other leaders of African countries, leaders who oppress, brutalise and murder the citizens they are supposed to protect, he is given a free pass by his fellow leaders.

Maybe it’s because they’re afraid that if they condemn someone like al-Bashir, it won’t be long before someone comes after them too?

All the excuses for why we didn’t arrest al-Bashir just don’t matter. You’ll hear people saying that we decided to do what we did because the ICC is a Western institution, and we should always do everything we can to screw the West. Really? So we’ll do what is bad for our own people and the  future just so we can show the West our bums? That doesn’t sound like a healthy or sensible approach to government to me. If you’re willing to act against your own interests just to piss off someone else, you need some psychological treatment, or maybe an exorcism.

As for the argument that the ICC shouldn’t arrest al-Bashir before they’ve arrested other people accused of war crimes, that’s just rubbish!

So they’re saying if someone kills your kid, the police can’t arrest the thug who did it until they’ve arrested every other suspect in the country first? Nonsense!

The real issue here is the rule of law, and its role in a functioning democracy.

Mzansi signed the Rome Statute of the ICC, an international treaty that obligates us to co-operate with the court.

It means we are legally required to arrest someone for whom the court has issued an arrest warrant, as they have for al-Bashir. Breaking a treaty is just about the worst thing you can do in the world of international relations, short of invading another country or declaring war. It means you can’t be trusted. Who is going to make an agreement with a country whose word means nothing?

BUT even worse than the international implications are the local ones. The government didn’t only break a treaty agreement, they also seemed to have just flatly ignored a High Court order that al-Bashir not be allowed to leave the country.

This fact should terrify you.

If government decides it is above the law, that it can go against a High Court ruling when it feels like it, for whatever reason, then that’s the end of our democracy. It means our Constitution is meaningless, and that not one of us is safe from whatever abuse of power some government official decides to commit.

Now you see why I said it doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about al-Bashir or some saint. It’s not the person that’s the issue, it’s whether we are a country governed by law or one where the powerful do whatever they feel like and to hell with everything else. I’m afraid there is no excuse for what happened. I’m also worried about what the future holds because now we know that we are truly without the protection of the courts. Yes, we should all be very, very afraid.

 Send your thoughts and comments to [email protected].

Until next week, salani kahle!

This article first appeared in the Sunday Sun.