Where is the 'Justice'?

By: Political Perspective

HOW much did it cost the taxpayer to prosecute and sentence a man to N$300 or three months in prison for stealing food worth N$9,20 from a passer-by? Not that he did the right thing, mind you.

Stealing is wrong on any account; but we have nevertheless put what

was in all likelihood a desperately hungry man in jail, while

people in positions of power and authority who steal to supplement

their fleets of 4x4s and luxury homes, go scot-free.

Police recovered the food the man stole but seldom are the huge

amounts taken by the elite money-grabbers ever returned or

repaid.

 

JUSTICE, what justice? People might legitimately ask this

question.

 

Another first-time petty thief put away; while rich exploiter

lives on to steal again because he's got his connections and

ill-gotten gains to shore him up against just such a fate.

 

If we could have given the man a job; or taken all the millions

stolen from the taxpayer, and created an unemployment fund to give

the have-nots a little something to eke out an existence, then

perhaps we might not have quarrelled with his sentence.

 

The law is something quite separate from the concept of justice

in far too many cases and it seems to me our legal practitioners

could do more to bring the two concepts closer to one another.

 

Clearly we should not steal, but if we do, then the law should

be taking the situation in which the theft occurred into account

when it metes out sentences.

 

While I am not familiar with all the intricacies of the case in

question, and neither am I a lawyer, nevertheless I believe that

justice was not done in this instance.

 

If I was hearing the case, and able to establish that firstly,

the man was hungry; secondly, that he was a first offender;

thirdly, that the food was retrieved; and fourthly, that he was

unemployed; I would have given him a warning.

 

A man who could not afford to buy himself food worth N$9,20 was

certainly unable to afford the N$300 admission of guilt, unless he

had a rich relative tucked away in a parastatal, of course, who was

able to pay it on his behalf! But we apparently choose to make an

example out of petty transgressors such as these to lull ourselves

into the belief that we're winning the battle against crime! Are we

kidding ourselves, or what? Does this sort of incident portray us

as a just and equal society? Of course not.

 

Most of the time we're so preoccupied with the black/white

question that we ignore the real issue - the gap between rich and

poor and the inequalities meted out to the latter group because the

greedy thieves ensure there's never any money to lessen their

plight.

 

I should also in the process exclude the many honest citizens,

working in Government and/or private sector, who put in a hard

day's work, try to better their skills and earn money only by

legitimate means.

 

For there are many such people who would never dream of

obtaining money and wealth either at the expense of others, or by

ill-gotten gains.

 

There are however, not enough of them, and they need to be more

vocal in order to challenge the status quo, which is blatantly

unfair towards the less fortunate in our society.

 

Honest Namibians should be demanding a change, because the

actions of the greedy make this a more unjust society and often

unfairly reflect upon the rest.

 

And since we are a nation that claims to be overwhelmingly

Christian, then the churches have both a duty and a calling to be

vocal on this matter and not to turn a blind eye to those fleecing

the system and further reducing the already-poor to a state of

total penury.

 

They also have to make use of all the influence they can muster

to ensure that our resources are properly and fairly distributed

and do not simply disappear into the pockets of an avaricious

elite.

 

If our concept of justice is intent simply on transferring

assets from a wealthy white elite to ensure a wealthy black elite,

we are missing the point altogether.

 

Archbishop Desmond Tutu recently risked (and was subjected to)

political ire in South Africa by trying to illustrate this very

point.

 

He is undoubtedly a man who speaks according to his conscience,

and we could do with more of his ilk around here.

 

The challenge remains for us to work actively towards reducing

the gap between rich and poor.

 

And this is no longer the simple black and white question that

it used to be!

 

Police recovered the food the man stole but seldom are the huge

amounts taken by the elite money-grabbers ever returned or

repaid.JUSTICE, what justice? People might legitimately ask this

question.Another first-time petty thief put away; while rich

exploiter lives on to steal again because he's got his connections

and ill-gotten gains to shore him up against just such a fate.If we

could have given the man a job; or taken all the millions stolen

from the taxpayer, and created an unemployment fund to give the

have-nots a little something to eke out an existence, then perhaps

we might not have quarrelled with his sentence.The law is something

quite separate from the concept of justice in far too many cases

and it seems to me our legal practitioners could do more to bring

the two concepts closer to one another.Clearly we should not steal,

but if we do, then the law should be taking the situation in which

the theft occurred into account when it metes out sentences.While I

am not familiar with all the intricacies of the case in question,

and neither am I a lawyer, nevertheless I believe that justice was

not done in this instance.If I was hearing the case, and able to

establish that firstly, the man was hungry; secondly, that he was a

first offender; thirdly, that the food was retrieved; and fourthly,

that he was unemployed; I would have given him a warning.A man who

could not afford to buy himself food worth N$9,20 was certainly

unable to afford the N$300 admission of guilt, unless he had a rich

relative tucked away in a parastatal, of course, who was able to

pay it on his behalf! But we apparently choose to make an example

out of petty transgressors such as these to lull ourselves into the

belief that we're winning the battle against crime! Are we kidding

ourselves, or what? Does this sort of incident portray us as a just

and equal society? Of course not.Most of the time we're so

preoccupied with the black/white question that we ignore the real

issue - the gap between rich and poor and the inequalities meted

out to the latter group because the greedy thieves ensure there's

never any money to lessen their plight.I should also in the process

exclude the many honest citizens, working in Government and/or

private sector, who put in a hard day's work, try to better their

skills and earn money only by legitimate means.For there are many

such people who would never dream of obtaining money and wealth

either at the expense of others, or by ill-gotten gains.There are

however, not enough of them, and they need to be more vocal in

order to challenge the status quo, which is blatantly unfair

towards the less fortunate in our society.Honest Namibians should

be demanding a change, because the actions of the greedy make this

a more unjust society and often unfairly reflect upon the rest.And

since we are a nation that claims to be overwhelmingly Christian,

then the churches have both a duty and a calling to be vocal on

this matter and not to turn a blind eye to those fleecing the

system and further reducing the already-poor to a state of total

penury.They also have to make use of all the influence they can

muster to ensure that our resources are properly and fairly

distributed and do not simply disappear into the pockets of an

avaricious elite.If our concept of justice is intent simply on

transferring assets from a wealthy white elite to ensure a wealthy

black elite, we are missing the point altogether.Archbishop Desmond

Tutu recently risked (and was subjected to) political ire in South

Africa by trying to illustrate this very point.He is undoubtedly a

man who speaks according to his conscience, and we could do with

more of his ilk around here.The challenge remains for us to work

actively towards reducing the gap between rich and poor.And this is

no longer the simple black and white question that it used to be!

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