“Let’s give former president Jacob Zuma time and space, people are counselling him, all of us need time to reflect and think. In life it is always best to think about matters carefully and deeply before coming to a rushed conclusion.” President Cyril Ramaphosa: Soweto, Friday, 5 February 2021. The rule of law remains axiomatic to any functioning constitutional democracy. One of the most defining moments of Nelson Mandela’s presidency was the moment he took the stand in the case of the President of the RSA and Others v South African Rugby Football Union & Others in 1999. In 1998, President Mandela appointed a commission to investigate allegations of racism, nepotism and corruption against Sarfu. Sarfu approached the court in order to stop the work of the commission. Judge William de Villiers saw fit to subpoena the president himself to give evidence as to why he ordered the probe. This sparked much debate about whether the president should have to defend his every decision in court. Mandela chose to do so in this case and was subjected to a lengthy cross-examination by Sarfu’s legal counsel, Advocate Mike Maritz SC. Justice De Villiers eventually ruled in favour of Sarfu, setting aside the government’s inquiry and called Mandela “an unsatisfactory witness”.