The press was important in getting Zulu to jail

THE Bastille was a symbol of oppression to the French and its storming on July 14, 1789 is celebrated as a national holiday in France.

It’s not only of historic significance to the French but also to the rest of the world, for it marked the end of the old order of the bourgeoisie and serfdom and the beginning of a new order of liberty, equality and fraternity.

It’s ironic, then, that businessman and socialite Sifiso Zulu,convicted of killing two church-goers in 2008, should live in an upmarket building called the Point Bastille. But unlike the angry mob which stormed the Bastille and freed the prisoners, two policemen with an arrest warrant failed to get their man. Even at the Pietermaritzburg High Court the police bungled and couldn’t serve an arrest warrant on the elusive Zulu as they did not have the original and he managed to elude them again. What ineptitude on the part of the police and the court. But he handed himself over to prison authorities the next day.

What is of significance in this case is the role played by the press in exerting pressure on the police and the courts to ensure that this arrogant and remorseless man pays his dues. If it were not for the vigilance of the press, Zulu would have thwarted the half-hearted efforts of the police and enjoyed his freedom a little longer.

A free press is important in the fight against crime and corruption.