Politics: A playground for liars and thieves?

There is a tendency among those who consider themselves “Western” to attribute the evils of corruption and maladministration to countries in the developing world.

And failure to follow the rule of law is frequently cited as evidence of Third World lack of morality.

Thus, it was that in South Africa, many opponents of the ANC accused it of trying to defeat justice when Schabir Shaik was granted a pardon by his erstwhile partner in malfeasance, former president Jacob Zuma.

Now, outgoing US President Joe Biden has shown that his moral compass is as wobbly as Zuma’s after he granted his son, Hunter, an unconditional pardon on two criminal cases, for which Biden Jnr was facing sentencing…. one a firearms charge and the other of tax evasion.

Biden had vowed he would never pardon his son, out of “respect” for the justice system.

Much as the incoming Trump carnival will play this up, the reality is that Trump did it, too, when he was president – and he looks set to do it again.

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And presidential pardons are not that unusual, either. Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother for old cocaine charges.

What this proves – as if many of us were in any doubt – is that sleaze and unethical behaviour is not confined to either the Republicans or the Democrats in America.

Nor, indeed, is it unheard of in European nations.

At least, in the case of South Africa, some of our politicians have had the guts to say out loud what their motivations were for getting into the game in the first place.

Wealthy ANC bigwig Smuts Ngonyama said, in 2004: “I did not join the struggle to be poor.”

And, judging by how our country has been looted into penury, we would guess many other comrades share his sentiments.

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Politics is the profession for liars and thieves.