26 February 2010
	Liberty lives on a slippery slope

"Civil servant" is an old-fashioned term, and it has too easily been supplanted by titles like "official" and "director-general". But it contains a reminder that those who work for government - the "civil service" - are not overlords but servants of the taxpayers, who pay their salary. Democracy can only be successful if its spirit as well as its letter are observed. It is no use having the best constitution in the world if the agents of the state do not uphold its values. That is why the frequent reports of abuse of power by national and provincial VIP protection details - the "blue light gangs" - are so disturbing. Western Cape premier Helen Zille is quite right to demand that, under her jurisdiction, official convoys will be allowed to break the rules of the road only in emergencies. It is not a petty matter. The destruction of liberty tends not to happen as a massive event, but in a creeping process. That's what happened in Zimbabwe (where citizens are routinely forced into the gutter when the official motorcades roar by) and in Germany, where nobody at first took seriously the antics of an unemployed painter called Adolf Hitler. Nobody has explained why the scheduled engagements of ministers are more important than the right of citizens to go about their business; or why so many cars and bodyguards are required, beyond making the individuals feel important. An even more ominous message was sent by the reported case of the student in Cape Town who was arrested, roughed up (handcuffed, with a bag over his head) and insulted for allegedly "giving the finger" to the presidential motorcade. This was the kind of behaviour expected from the worst elements in the apartheid police force. Must we conclude that the ANC government is equally contemptuous of the rights of the individual - and equally insecure of its moral authority to rule?