How business and society can help recapacitate SA's rule of law
WATCH | In conversation with Richard Price, Corporate and Legal Affairs Director at Anglo American
Welcome to 'Building a better South Africa, together', a six-part web series brought to you by Anglo American in partnership with News24.
'Building a better South Africa, together' aims to leverage the country’s collective strength and discuss how all of society can tackle three triple challenges: crime and corruption, energy challenges and infrastructure issues.
In the fourth episode, news broadcaster Nzinga Qunta sits down with Richard Price, Corporate and Legal Affairs Director at Anglo American, to discuss why the rule of law is so critical for a country to flourish.
The rule of law in many ways underpins the general functioning of a country. As discussed last week, in order for a country to address the scourges of crime and corruption, the rule of law needs to have fundamental value.
The rule of law simply means living by the laws enacted in a democracy, where no citizen is above the law, and all are equally subject to the same law.
"It also means we have the institutions in place to ensure laws are enforced and respected, and when they’re not respected, those who break the law are brought to book for it," Price tells Qunta.
Richard Price, Corporate and Legal Affairs Director at Anglo American
Richard Price, Corporate and Legal Affairs Director at Anglo American
The problem arises when the rule of law is not respected and not seen to be enacted in a democratic society – and South Africa is not alone globally in experiencing some of these problems, says Price. Almost 85% of people worldwide live in countries where the rule of law is in decline.
South Africa is blessed in that it has a strong constitution, an independent judiciary, and a "loud and noisy media", says Price. Its issues have arisen in part to the hollowing out of prosecuting bodies according to various state capture allegations, and those now need to be recapacitated.
"There is a role for business to work with government to help it do what it needs to do, which is to recapacitate these institutions. This is a government responsibility, but I think business can be there to help government achieve that," says Price.
Watch Episode 4 below, as Price and Qunta dive deeper into how the business sector and civil society can assist in this area.
You too can decide how you want to be a part of building a better South Africa, together by joining the conversation at the social links below:
In the next episode of Building a better South Africa, together, Qunta chats to Mbali Ntuli, who heads up Ground Work Collective, to discuss how citizens can be active in helping to build the country they want to see.
Join the conversation below at Anglo American's social media pages:
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