Protesters must respect rule of law

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POLITICAL leaders swear allegiance to, and we all applaud our constitution. It guarantees (by rule of law) division of the executive, legislative and judiciary powers of our democratic country.

It is not possible to uphold the status of our Bill of Rights when people resort to self-help.

It is irresponsible of people elected to public office to applaud self-help. Every right (inclusive of the right to dignity) ensconced in the Bill of Rights as contained in chapter 2 of the constitution can be effectively protected by recourse to our courts of law, particularly so if the person affected can afford legal recourse.

If you are a true believer in the democracy in South Africa and if you are elected to public office or speak in a representative capacity on behalf of unions and affiliated political entities you, due to your very position, are bound to respect the rule of law. In the current debate and calls for action too many calls and too much praise for self-help is evident from people in positions that should have more respect for the rule of law.

Regrettably this is one of the main reasons why the masses turn to self-help on a regular basis.

The office of president of South Africa is one worthy of respect. That respect should be treasured by every voter.

It is very difficult to give the institution the respect it deserves if the person who, on populist vote is voted into that lofty office, is not worthy of that respect at the time he is voted into the position. In no democratic society whose top office is worthy of respect should such a person as Jacob Zuma, with his record of extra-marital affairs and children born out of wedlock, be allowed to stand for such office and nor should such person with dubious morals make himself available for such office.

In our unfortunate circumstances a person unworthy of the office tainted the office, not the artist who showed up the unworthy behaviour. Be that as it may, it is the function of our courts to decide if the artist’s depiction of Zuma is to be prohibited, not the function of Zuma’s "town criers”.