Gwynne Dyer HandoutArticle contentIt’s outrageous. You’re at your hobby farm in the country, just pottering around, so you stuff the $580,000 in your pocket under the sofa cushions temporarily just to get it out of the way. Then you forget it when you are gathering things up to go back to the city. It could happen to anybody.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentHowever, thieves break into your country house while you’re away and steal the money. You consider reporting it to the police, but you know they are struggling to keep up with the crime wave so you decide to forget about it. And even though it was foreign currency, you don’t report it to the tax authorities either because you never got to spend it. Or something like that.Article contentArticle contentArticle contentBut then events take a turn decidedly for the worse. A man called Arthur Fraser sends a dossier to the police reporting that you got the money and that it was not actually $580,000 but a whole $4,000,000. And since Mr. Fraser was the country’s former chief spy, they take him seriously and come to you looking for answers. What do you tell them?Article contentThis is the dilemma that President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa faced in 2022, and the rather far-fetched story above (with few grace notes about the money being the proceeds of a cash sale of some buffalos to a foreigner) was his explanation to the police. Miraculously, the police believed him, as did his party, which had a majority in parliament.Article contentNow, a few bits of Ramaphosa’s story rang true. He did sell prize buffalo and other animals from his game farm, sometimes for cash. And Arthur Fraser was chief spy under Jacob Zuma, Ramaphosa’s predecessor, a deeply corrupt man who had a grudge against Ramaphosa for organising his eviction from the presidency.Article contentArticle contentOn the other hand, Ramaphosa never reported the theft and failed to comply with the requirement to report the receipt of large sums in foreign currency. At the very least, there was a case for him to answer – but it didn’t happen until his party, the African National Congress, lost its absolute majority in parliament.Article contentAfter the 2024 election, Ramaphosa remained in the presidency, but the new government was a coalition in which some parties were willing to impeach him. It’s now a tag team match between the parliament, the high court and the mass media, and the outcome is uncertain, but he really could be impeached. He is just as much subject to the law as everyone else.Article contentTHE RANKINGSArticle contentThis is as good as it gets. Perfect justice is not on the menu, but a rough facsimile of justice most of the time is good enough for most purposes. There is even an international Rule of Law Index compiled by the World Justice Project that scores and ranks countries on how close they get to that rough facsimile, and it makes for interesting reading.
GWYNNE DYER: The Rule of Law: Where does your country rank?
