Consistent Underlying Policies. Government policies should have the welfare of the people as their primary objective. They should be consistent between alternative forms of activity and particular professions or occupations should not be singled out for either preferential treatment or harsh treatment merely because they are considered by government to supply a service of greater or lesser importance. The rule of law requires that government should enact only such laws as are general in nature, are applicable to everyone including itself, and which do not attempt to bring about particular outcomes. The rule of law was described by Nobel Laureate Friedrich Hayek in his book The Constitution of Liberty: The conception of freedom under the law ... rests on the contention that when we obey laws, in the sense of general abstract rules laid down irrespective of their application to us, we are not subject to another man's will and are therefore free. It is because the lawgiver does not know the particular cases to which the rule will apply, and it is because the judge who will apply them has no choice in drawing the conclusions that follow from the existing body of rules and the particular facts of the case, that it can be said that laws and not men rule. Because the rule is laid down in ignorance of the particular case and no man's will decides the coercion used to enforce it, the law is not arbitrary. This, however, is true only if by "law" we mean the general rules that apply equally to everybody. The Long-term Insurance Bill contains provisions that are despotic in nature. Total power became so much a part of previous administrations that the elements of despotism are not recognised by most South Africans, not even by those who suffered most as a result of the bias and discretionary powers contained in legislation. In order to create the free society for which the majority of South Africans have been yearning for so long, it will take a conscious effort on the part of the new government to root out all provisions of a despotic nature contained in existing legislation. It will also be essential to ensure that no new despotic legislation is added to the statute book. The infamous apartheid period was only possible because the rule of law was ignored and extensive arbitrary powers were given to the civil service to follow differing rules in dealing with different citizens of the country. The greater part of those arbitrary powers continue to exist and there is clear evidence that the civil ser...
Consistent Underlying Policies. Policies should have the welfare of the people as their primary objective. They should be consistent between alternative forms of activity and certain professions or occupations should not be singled out for either preferential treatment or harsh treatment merely because they fall under different Ministries or because they are considered by government to supply a service of greater or lesser importance. (A recent example would be the proposal that newly qualified doctors should undergo compulsory service similar to military service whilst lawyers, accountants, engineers, architects etc are not targeted for this type of detention without trial.)
Consistent Underlying Policies. Policies should have the welfare of the people as their primary objective. They should be consistent between alternative forms of activity and certain professions or occupation should not be singled out for either preferential treatment or harsh treatment merely because they fall under different Ministries or because they are considered by government to supply a service of greater or lesser importance. (A recent example would be the proposal that newly qualified doctors should undergo compulsory service similar to military service whilst lawyers, accountants, engineers, architects etc. are not targeted for this treatment.
