1. My Time Almost Up. In this the sunset-season of my life I watch children at play and young people frolicking on lawns in parks and in homes wondering what kind of world I will be leaving behind for them when I go, i.e. in this topsy-turvy society where an erstwhile charismatic liberation movement has come to liberate our citizens from the frying pan of 'apartheid' straight into the fire of unbridled 'state capture' and crony-deployment driven, government-enabled fraud & corruption on a scale of such magnitude that it defies the imagination.
People stand, stupefied and incredulous, as wave after wave of revelations about 'state capture' wash over their television sets and the front pages of newspapers. To describe it as a pandemic must surely be a gross under statement but nevertheless justified; after all did its greasy paws grope (and its slimy tentacles ooze) all the way up to the USA, the UK and Asia.
2. Stories that break our hearts. Examples of stories, drowned out somewhat by news about countrywide looting, anarchy and arson, surfacing during conversations these days:
2.1 "The police from Station XYZ have arrested my workers because they were caught without any ID’s on their persons; fortunately I was able to buy the police off with a R1000 bribe to let my people go!” (Independent entrepreneur)
2.2 ”Our domestic servant is from a neighbouring country and she has had to pay customs officials at the border-post (on both sides) a bribe to let her into the RSA with 'documentation'." (Engineer).
2.3 “A migrant worker from Zimbabwe says that he has had to pay ‘Home Affairs’ in Zimbabwe (the equivalent of) R5000 for an ‘emergency passport’ or face the daunting prospect of waiting for months on end for a passport through legal channels!” (Immigrant).
2.4 "We do construction work in townships all over South Africa. Community leaders, however, refuse us entry into such townships unless we employ locals instead of our own skilled, qualified artisans & employees, a very risky business involving such specialised jobs. Death-threats from locals are not uncommon, and we often have to pay such community leaders huge amounts in bribes to allow our workers into such communities!” (Young businessman).
3. The African Union. For what it is worth, the African Union's advice is apparently only of empty window-dressing value: “To end corruption, we promote transparency, accountability and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society.”
4. Transparency International: 'Africa Corruption Barometer'. Readers are welcome to download Transparency International’s latest document ('Africa Corruption Barometer') or visit websites below:
“For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.” [Job15:34].
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