No One is Above The Law

By Sicebise Msengana

King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, the king of AbaThembu who was handed down 12 years in jail by the Supreme Court of Appeals in Bloemfontein two weeks
ago after he appealed a 15-year sentence imposed by the Mthatha High Court in 2009. He was initially convicted for crimes ranging from culpable homicide, kidnapping, assault, arson and defeating the ends of justice. Earlier this year, King Zwelithini was implicated in a rather different matter. The Zulu king was accused of saying, "Foreigners should pack their bags and leave." This started a bloody wave of xenophobic attacks in South Africa. We may not know the exact words he used.  But if he did incite xenophobia, he also should
be put on trial for hate speech.

After the ruling some people felt that justice has not been. After all, Dalindyebo is a king. There are basic requirements in order to achieve justice:

1. There must be explicit rules laid down to show people must be treated in specific cases. 
2. The rules must apply generally. This means that the rules must apply to all people in the group in the same circumstances.
3. The rules must be applied impartially by a legal institution. This means that the judge may not be biased--he or she may not apply the rules unequally. 

It is clear that the requirements of justice have been met in this case. However, some people still complain that the result was unjust. One of the biggest problems facing society it is people who believe they are above the law because of royal descent or political connections. By teaching that bad actions do not have bad consequences, that people do not have to take responsibility for their actions, it denies justice.

The African response to this is that a king does not have to be punished, because he is a royal. It denies justice in one more basic way: not only does it allow the guilty to escape punishment, it does not redress the
harm done to the innocent. It neither requires the wrong person to
make restitution, nor does it change the harm they caused by their actions.


When South Africa became a democratic nation in 1994, Full recognition of constitutionalism have prevailed in our nation. In effect, the constitution is regarded as the highest law or supreme law of the land.  Surprisingly, the law is for both the citizens and law makers. In other words, no one is above the law. Under this system, everyone is accountable for their actions regardless of their birthright or bank account. When people know that they are expected accept personal responsibility for their actions,  It also provides a logical position to always behave morally. Africa has long past the era of despotic rulers who used social power to abuse their people and amass fortune. Our destiny is in our hands. It is time to toss away the indefensible and embrace justice.