I hear the allegation increasingly that all politicians are crooks. Ordinary voters, black and white are appalled at the almost daily revelations about corruption. Can one blame them when they are repeatedly let down by the politicians elected to represent them and the civil servants paid to serve them?
After a career as an attorney stretching over forty-five years and a career in public life as a city councillor, provincial councillor, member of parliament and an ambassador extending over fifty years, I can state that I am not a crook. And nor were most of the people I encountered over my two lifetimes in the profession and the service of the public.
I was only once in all that time offered a “present” that I thought was improper: a very large property development company sent a case of whisky, addressed to “The Chairman of the Management Committee, Benoni Town Council.”
Since the council was closely involved in the approval of development projects, I thought it was appropriate to send the whisky back, with thanks. Almost all of the politicians, lawyers, clients and business people I came across, irrespective of their political parties, were honest and decent.
I continued to believe that was still the case for many years but my confidence and that of the public was shaken when the former minister of social development (and president of the ANC Women’s League, as well as being a convicted criminal herself) stated in 2016 that “all of us have smallanyana skeletons.”
Bathabile Dlamini was referring to the members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the “glorious movement”, the ANC. She added, “We don’t want to take out skeletons because all hell will break loose.” What is dismal about all of this is that five years later we are still not anywhere near the truth about the smallanyana skeletons of each of the members of the NEC. We have also not seen any of them going to jail for their criminal actions.