Proof that no one is above the law

If optimism were a drug, then South Africa got another injection of it yesterday as Shaun Abrahams did his duty as the country’s chief prosecutor and decided to take Jacob Zuma to court on corruption charges. That shot of positivity for the country was badly needed, because we had already started to crash down from the high of Cyril Ramaphosa’s ascent to the Presidency, as the land expropriation issue started to get ugly.

The fact that a former sitting president of this country must now face the law is a strong indication that the rule of law is still powerful and that nobody is above it. Very few of us would have said that six months ago, when it looked as though Abrahams was determined to keep Zuma as far away from any courtroom dock as possible and, indeed, it looked as though Zuma and his clique would continue running their state capture project well into the future.

It also shows that the ANC – which, as an organisation, has been complicit in a lot of the wrongdoing linked to Zuma – maybe be turning over a new leaf under Ramaphosa.

There is still a long, long way to go before we can imagine the real prospect of Jacob Zuma being convicted. He will fight tooth and nail to avoid being found guilty on corruption charges relating to 783 payments made to him. And even if he is found guilty, it is unlikely he will ever spend time behind bars. He is too old and he could be given a suspended sentence or even pardoned in a political solution that follows the legal process.

But today could be the first day of the rest of our life as a strong democracy.

Wrongdoers now know: you can plot, you can steal, you can intimidate, but, ultimately, you cannot hide.