Showing posts with label Robert McBride. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert McBride. Show all posts

Monday, July 23, 2007

On Robert McBride and democracy

My comment on Robert McBride last week elicited quite harsh comment from some readers. I bemoaned the fact that McBride was not being held accountable as one would expect in a democracy but some readers took issue with this on the ground that we do not live in a democracy.

That, of course, was before the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced that McBride is to be charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, defeating the ends of justice and fraud. Nevertheless, the comments of the readers was perplexing because it seems rather obvious to me that we live in a relatively healthy democracy.

Really, the Economist (not a left wing or PC magazine by any strech of the imagination) placed South Africa 29th out of 165 countries on its democracy Index in 2007. (Zimbabwe was placed 147th on the list, two places ahead of Angola.)

There are perhaps three interrelated reasons why some people are so dissatisfied with what is happening in South Africa that they can claim we do not live in a democracy.

First, because South Africa never was a democracy in the past, some people fundamentally misunderstand the nature of democracy. In the past, most white people more or less saw their views reflected in government policy and actions, but they now often find themselves in violent disagreement with government policies. Because the government does not reflect their views, they claim the government is evil and undemocratic, instead of merely arguing that the government is unwise or wrong like a true democrat would have.

Second, some people have a “look-at-Zimbabwe” attitude and see signs everywhere of the imminent demise of South Africa into banana republic status. What in another country would be seen as a sign of the stupidity of a politician or political party, is often seen in South Africa as the end of democracy if not the world. When Tony Blair stupidly decided to help the USA to invade Iraq, few people in Britain saw this as the end of democracy in the UK. Conversely, in South Africa, Thabo Mbeki’s handling of Zimbabwe is seen as proof that our government is anti-democratic and Stalinist.

Lastly, people are just plain uninformed, perhaps because they believe the things that bigots whine on about on talk radio. Thus a reader rails against the Constitutional Court for endorsing legislation that only allows individuals to vote if they are present in South Africa. Only problem is, the Constitutional Court has never ruled on this issue.

Thing is, the wonder of a democracy is that we do not always (or ever!) have to agree with the government or with the judgments of the Constitutional Court and we can say so loudly and clearly. This is exactly what democracy is about. Even if one is a permanent minority (like gay men and lesbians in SA or black people in the USA) and always feel the government is not representing one’s interest, it does not mean that one is not living in a democracy.

Of course, democratic governments should adhere to some basic principles and we the people should make sure they do (because give even the most democratic government half a chance and they will cut corners). This is why I criticized McBride for failure to be held accountable.

But today I am very happy that the NPA has done the right thing and has affirmed the respect that everyone is equal before the law by charging McBride. I am eagerly looking forward to the cross examination because Mr. McBride looks like a guy who is going to make Schabir Shaik look believable and coherent under cross examination.

Such are the joys of living in a democracy under the Rule of Law.

Friday, July 06, 2007

McBride and the innocent until guilty charade

It might well be that it was a pure co-incidence that the police officers who turned against Robert McBride after his alleged drunken driving incident, were arrested for driving with tinted windows this week. It might be that the police arrests thousands of people for this offence every week and that the poor officers just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It is also possible, I suppose, that George W Bush will announce next week that he is firing Dick Cheney and pullimg all troops from Iraq.

But if I was a betting man, I would not be one to put even one Zimbabwean dollar on either of these scenarios being true.

Clearly, something fishy is going on. The officer has presumably been driving with tinted windows for some time. Why arrest him now? Why call McBride, the Metro Police Head, to the scene of the arrest? Any reasonable person will be hard pressed not to think that McBride is acting like the worst kind of school yard bully, victimising his colleagues because they ratted on him.

The mayor of Ekurhuleni gets it exactly wrong. News24 reports that the mayor, Duma Nkosi, has previously said that McBride is innocent until proved guilty "by credible institutions created by our democracy".

This case is rather similar to that of Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, who has admitted to be a good friend of the alleged murderer of Brett Kebble.

In both cases a dark cloud hangs over a senior police officer. In both cases the credibility of the officer has been severely tainted. In both cases their supporters claim that they are innocent until proven guilty and that us normal people are therefore not allowed to have any opinion about them until such time as they are convicted in a court of law.

This might be true if these two were ordinary citizens. But they are not. They are public representatives charged with upholding the law. Even a whiff of scandal fatally compromises their integrity. They are innocent of a criminal offence until proven guilty, yes. But there is also a court of public opinion. In that court they have already been found guilty.

This makes it impossible for them to do their job properly. In order to protect their rights, they should both be suspended until a full investigation into their alleged nefarious activcities have been completed. If this full and independent investigation then finds that they are both angels, fine, they are cleared and can return to work. If not, they must be fired.

It is sad how public representatives hide behind the innocent until proven guilty mantra to escape all forms of public accountability. They do not understand that in a democracy public officials are accountable to the masses of the people.

And public accountability cannot only be about whether one has been convicted of a crime. Many people who have never been convicted of a crime is unfit for public office. To suggest that as long as one has not been convicted one is fit for public office no matter what one has done or is alleged to have done is an insult to us ordinary people who have a right to accountable public officials.

It suggests that the bar for public officials are set so low that any charlatan and conniving bully can become a police commisioner as long as he or she is never succesfully convicted of a crime. If we use that measure PW Botha, Magnus Malan, Wouter Basson, and George W Bush for that matter, should all have been fit to be public officials in South Africa.

And I thought we were fighting against this kind of lack of public morality.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Robert McBride and the Tooth Fairy

When I wrote a few months ago that Robert McBride (pictured) was a favourite scapegoat for many white South Africans who refuse to acknowledge the evils of apartheid, I received some vitriolic emails. Well, I still think that many white South Africans judge McBride more harshly than other state officials, but if the latest report in The Star is true, he deserves all the scorn coming to him.

The newspaper reports that three of the top cops in the Metro who had been on the scene of McBride’s car crash and who had now made statements that do not correspond with the version given by McBride, are being victimised at work.

On May 18, notices were placed around various metro police offices banning Chief Superintendent Stanley Segathevan, Superintendent Itumeleng Koko and Chief Superintendent Patrick Johnstone from entering the premises. The official reason: they had tried to gain unauthorised entry into the police's head office after hours. On Tuesday, the trio consulted their lawyer about getting a protection order against McBride. They also tried to hand in their letters of grievances at their offices, but were denied access.

It is perhaps not surprising that no decision has been made whether McBride will be charged with drunken or reckless driving. After all, the cops (McBride’s pals) who happened on the accident scene whisked McBride away and did not take a blood sample as would normally have been required. McBride said afterwards that he had amnesia and could not remember how he rolled the car after returning from an end of year Christmas party and in any case, it was all a racist conspiracy.

I am sure there are a few people out there who believe McBride. I mean, who on earth would drink any alcohol at the Police end of year Christmas party – unthinkable, surely. And amnesia is a common occurrence so how can we doubt his claims in this regard. It happens all the time – in Days of our Lives.

Those same people who believe McBride’s story will also believe that judge Hlophe got permission to receive R500 000 from Oasis from mid 2001 for “out of pocket” expenses from now dead Minister Dullah Omar in early 1999. And while we are at it, we should ask them about the whereabouts of tooth fairy and whether Father Christmas wear underpants under that red coat of his.

Jokes aside, the whole thing stinks. Police are supposed to be beyond reproach and we the people pay them to enforce the law. If a leading police officer like McBride, who is Ekurhuleni Metro Police Chief, tries to avoid the law like this, he is undermining respect for the Rule of Law.

If the report in The Star is correct, he has now also abused his position of authority to avoid criminal sanction and could then potentially be found guilty of the obstruction of justice.

But maybe the report is not true. I am looking forward to McBride’s press conference where he will explain everything and will deny that he is abusing his power to thwart the criminal investigation against him.

What will he say? This time amnesia won’t do the trick. Maybe he will claim he got permission from Dullah Omar to bar the cops from their places of work. Oh no, that is the wrong Minister, so that won’t work either. He should speak to Judge Hlophe who will surely be handy with a creative answer or two?