I recall that in times gone by retailers in the UK would frequently display signs which read “shoplifters will be prosecuted”. Shoplifting was somehow not perceived as much of a crime. Today it’s much more likely to read “thieves will be prosecuted”.

This may be just an emotive difference but it is meaningful. And corruption? In one form or another, corruption is stealing. When it is part and parcel of the behaviour of the President of one’s country, what kind of message is given to the man or woman in the street? It is at least depressing and disgusting and, indeed, depraved.

I am reading the well-publicised book “The President’s Keepers” by Jacques Pauw which, as you may imagine, is all about Jacob Zuma and his many cronies. Is any of the contents surprising? Possibly not, except to the man in the street who seems to be singularly uninterested in Zuma’s antics. But putting it all together in one place provides a stark reality which is depressing to read.

What does it matter in the end? After all, it’s only money. But whose money is it? That matters! Maybe more so, it matters that, if that is what is happening with the country’s President, what can be expected elsewhere? But the truth is that Zuma is not really our President. He is no more than the president  of himself and his cronies. And how depressing is that!