A professional police service can play an important role in reducing violent crime and improving community safety. Clear evidence of the effectiveness of good policing has emerged from both resource-rich countries such as in New York City, USA and developing countries, such as the Columbian city of Bogota. Good policing means professional policing. In other words, the police must do their work in accordance to the law without fear or favour and be seen to do so. This strengthens the social contract that citizens have with the state, in which the state's role is to act fairly and in the public interest. When the police are perceived to be biased and do not treat everyone equally or fairly, the general public increasingly loses trust and respect for the police - and their ability to tackle crime becomes severely constrained.

South Africans should therefore pay close attention in instances when the South African Police Service (SAPS) appears to be misused in the interest of the elite. Much has recently been written about the arrest of Sunday Times journalist, Mzilikazi wa Afrika, at his office on the morning of Wednesday, 4 August. From the information available, this appears to be yet another case where members of the SAPS have acted in a manner that seems to favour the interests of the ruling elite over those of ordinary citizens.

The journalist was arrested a few days after he wrote a story exposing the awarding of a R500 million lease to a politically connected businessman without proper procedures having been followed. The story was particularly sensational as the newspaper claims that the National Commissioner of Police, Bheki Cele, signed the lease. This emerged in the same week that the previous National Commissioner, Jackie Selebi received a sentence of 15 years in prison for corruption.

Since the publication of the story it has become increasingly difficult to follow the claims and counter claims about what actually resulted in the awarding of the lucrative deal, and who was responsible. What remains undisputed is that shortly after publication of the story wa Afrika was arrested at his workplace by eight police officers belonging to the Hawks, an elite unit within the SAPS. Following his arrest he was not allowed to contact his lawyer who did not know where he was until much later that evening.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) initially dropped charges against wa Afrika, suggesting that the prosecutor did not believe there to be a case against the journalist. It was reported that the NPA only reinstated the charges after a long meeting with the police officials who arrested him. The journalist was held in police custody until High Court Judge, Johan Kruger, ordered his release stating that detaining the journalist was "not in the interest of the rule of law."

Wa Afrika claims he was not read his rights until many hours after his arrest and that the police aggressively questioned him in the early hours of the morning about the newspaper articles he was working on. Although he has since been charged with fraud and ‘uttering' it remains unclear whether the charges pertain to the story about the lease of the new police headquarters, or the much more convoluted story about political assassinations in Mpumalanga in which the provincial premier is alleged to have a role.

Whether or not wa Afrika is ultimately found guilty of the charges brought against him is not the most important fact in this saga. What is important is that the manner in which the arrest was affected. That it was carried out by a large contingent of Hawks at his place of work strongly suggests that the police sought to send a message to the media that stories alleging corruption of powerful politicians and civil servants will not be tolerated. This perception is reinforced by the fact that the Hawks seem to have made no progress in investigating allegations against senior ranking politicians who may be linked to far more serious crimes than ‘uttering' and fraud.

When the Hawks replaced the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO) known as the Scorpions, the South African public was told that the location of the new unit within the SAPS would address the problems that had allegedly arisen as a result of the close relationship between the Scorpions investigators and prosecutors. Yet, in several cases, most notably in the case against former police Commissioner, Jackie Selebi, the DSO showed that they could tackle serious corruption at the highest level of office without fear and favour.

The Hawks have yet to conclude an investigation against a senior ranking politician or government official for corruption. This despite the fact that the ruling party acknowledges that corruption by state officials and those holding public office is a serious problem facing the country.

The timing of the arrest, whether intentional or not, has contributed to growing unease that the interests of the ruling elite continue to ride roughshod over the rights of all citizens. In the two weeks preceding the arrest of wa Africa, parliament and civil society had acrimoniously debated two new Bills, that if passed, may stifle access to information and media freedom. This while the ANC announced its intention to establish a media tribunal to act against what it views as malicious reporting. It would be hard to disabuse observers of the notion that these events are not linked.

In addition, if the wa Africa case was the only case if its kind where it appears that the police have been misused for political purposes, it would be sufficient cause for concern. But it is not. There are a growing number of examples of police acting in the interests of politicians.

• We remember that while on parole, convicted fraudster and ruling party heavy-weight Tony Yengeni was arrested after crashing his car while allegedly under the influence of alcohol. The charges against Yengeni were dropped after a police Station Commissioner interfered with the case docket and evidence. It emerged during Station Commissioner's trial, that he had interfered with evidence and intimidated junior police officials to make false entries in the docket that resulted in Yengeni being protected from prosecution.

• There were reports of traffic police officials in Limpopo being threatened by senior provincial politicians after attempting to fine the ANC Youth League President Julius Malema for speeding. More recently, Malema was able to instruct the police to remove delegates from a chaotic Youth League conference, who did not support his preferred candidate.

• Then there was the headline-grabbing case of Chumani Maxwele, the jogger who was arrested by the police, locked up for 24 hours and who had his home searched all for a perceived slight at the Presidential cavalcade. This is one of a long list of incidents where members of the SAPS VIP units also known as the "blue light brigade" have undermined the rights and safety of ordinary citizens on our roads.

It is not surprising that police officials across the country are hesitant to enforce the law against senior ruling party officials. Their boss, the National Commissioner is not a professional police officer, but until recently was a senior ruling party politician. Many police officials are therefore likely to be concerned that investigating or arresting a senior ruling party official, no mater how justifiably, could be a career-limiting move. Unfortunately, this makes the ruling party inner circle an attractive place for the criminally inclined who wish to live above the law and contributes the problems corruption that the ANC acknowledges afflicts the party.

Democracy is threatened when the security forces are used, or are even perceived to be used, to achieve political ends and to stifle opposition. Good governance depends on the separation of powers and respect for human rights. The perception created by acts in which the police seem to favour the ruling elite undermines democracy and good governance and paints a bleak picture for the future. The Commissioner of Police has do his Constitutional duty and ensure that the police do act without fear or favour in terms of the law and that no one is perceived to be above it.

Written by: Gareth Newham, Head of the Crime and Justice Programme, ISS, Pretoria