Statement from the Good Party
5 July 2021
If ever there was a time for South Africans to act with a common purpose it is surely now, as the fast-moving third wave of the Covid pandemic re-tightens its grip around our economy and collective throat.
Politicians are not exempt from adhering to lockdown regulations designed to slow the pandemic’s spread, no matter how desperate their situations.
Indeed, as public figures, they have a special responsibility to lead by example in the effort to save lives and the nation’s dwindling resources.
It’s up to the rest of us to hold them accountable.
For this reason, when it emerged that Mayor of Cape Town Dan Plato had held a series of events last week in contravention of lockdown regulations, GOOD brought the matter to the attention of the police.
There was no need to bring yesterday’s event in Nkandla to the police’s attention because police were in attendance, in abundance, and the event was broadcast live across South African channels. But there’s no less need for police investigation.
While police reticence to act to enforce lockdown regulations on the spot yesterday was understandable, given that emotions were running dangerously high, lawbreakers must be held to account nonetheless.
It is good to learn that the police gathered photographic evidence on the scene in Nkandla that will enable them to act against those who broke the law. Cape Town police similarly have photographs of Mayor Plato’s functions.
The idea that powerful people flout national disaster regulations, while “ordinary” South Africans such as Collins Khosa died after run-ins with over-zealous security forces enforcing the regulations, is unconscionable.
The principle that all are equal before the law is a foundation stone of our constitutional democracy.
What applied to Khosa applies equally to the Mayor of Cape Town, desperate to be nominated as the DA’s mayoral candidate in upcoming elections, to both factions of the ANC, and to all the rest of us.
Ends…