There is something decidedly wrong with a police service that treats the mayor of its jurisdiction with utter contempt, not even showing her the most basic courtesy.
I would have thought such pigheadedness and arrogance by the police all went with the unlamented former regime, where respect for anybody was wholly determined by the ideological bicycle they were pedalling.
But Cape Town mayor and national leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, Hellen Zille, was summarily arrested by Mitchell's Plain policemen working and living within her mayoralty.
They were clearly playing a political card and have no regard for who she was.
Please understand me very clearly: I am not saying La Zille is above police attention or the law; if she has been silly enough to break any laws, then by all means arrest her, though in doing so observe all the necessary protocols and conditions you would if you had been dealing with any other member of the public.
What I am saying is that her office, at least as mayor of Cape Town, should have assured her more courteous treatment by the police.
One could easily point to the criminals allowed to sit pretty in parliament after filching millions of rands from the institution through a sleazy "travel" scam, with nary an eyebrow raised by the government and its evidently duty-conscious Mitchell's Plain policemen.
Air travel
One could point to a certain Malusi Gigaba, caught out buying flowers for his wife with unauthorised money from his department, and also paying for air travel for his cronies and relatives.
La Zille's "crime" would seem to have been her desire to rid Cape Town of the scourge of drug traffickers, something the ruling ANC seems to be very scared of doing.
When all is said and done, the fact remains that she is the mother of two teenagers and, in her capacity as a mother, she has shown great concern not only for her own children but for all the city's children.
Instead of arresting her, the police ought to be actively assisting her to give notice to all the drug pushers that their activities are not wanted and must be stopped.
I suppose the least one can say is "well done" to ANC secretary- general This country has become a seriously sick joke: a den of thieves, one of them also a serial drunk with an international record, sit around making "laws" for the rest of us, while a greatly respected woman and political leader is arrested and thrown in court on trumped-up charges! Kgalema Motlanthe, who voiced some concerns about the way Hellen Zille was treated with disrespect.
Will the voters wait another 48 years before turfing out this corrupt and unaccountable lot?
If that is so, we are still in for a long haul of 35 years!
Jon Qwelane's column is published each week on News24, courtesy of Jon Qwelane and the editor of Sunday Sun, which originally carried the article.
