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By Kekeletso Nakeli

Columnist


South African greed outshines patriotism

When greed outweighs patriotism, the nation suffers as the elite exploit resources for personal gain, disregarding common welfare.


When greed supersedes patriotism, one has to wonder what fills the belly that sells the country – bit by bit.

At the height of Guptagate, it was said that the elite knew no limits because with their ill-gotten gains, holidays and private tuition, a life of luxury was afforded to them.

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Patriotism is the feeling of love, and devotion – and a sense of attachment to a country or state.

We have seen on TV shows where women enter into transactional marriages with men of foreign descent.

These men pay the women as little as R300 a month.

But they never see the men again once their signatures have been recorded in the marriage registers.

It is only later when these women run to TV stations like Moja Love to seek assistance to dissolve the same marriages because they now have their children who are born registered to surnames of men whose whereabouts are unknown to them.

Their greed now is an inconvenience, when they have sold their country.

Where was it meant to end? How was it meant to end? At what cost to the country?

The laymen had so much to say in the Jacob Zuma era.

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We are all opposed to the idea that Treasury is slowly becoming a personal purse to an elite few.

We are actually angered by this, but we have not decided collectively whom to hold accountable for it.

Is it the Zuma family, or the Guptas?

As a collective, we are so divided that we cannot slay the monster that holds us hostage.

We all want to have a unique understanding of the situation, sometimes too unique that we deviate from the solution… but when the one that has to be held accountable is the layman, a friend, relative or neighbour from whom one might have benefitted, radio silence.

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Reality is that there are families who go to bed on empty stomachs.

There are grannies who have been waiting for RDP houses – regardless of the workmanship – longer than Zuma has been president.

There are children who are chanting that fees must fall so they can have access to quality tertiary education.

There are many things that are in great shortage and this creates a gap for people to “fill the gap”, while we all struggle to breathe under the economic tide.

Who you are determines your method of navigating the waters.

Here’s to a cleaner, more patriotic home affairs, if the reported courses of action are anything to go by

Read more on these topics

corruption Guptas State Capture

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