You’re sorry, well that’s okay, then

“Years of cronyism have created an environment of mistrust and suspicion when individuals, who are close to political office and influence, are seen to be benefiting from the state in ways that may be unethical.”

That spot-on description of South Africa under the always-hungry ANC government, comes from people close to the feeding trough – Presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko and her husband, King Madzikane II Diko.

They have now apologised for being caught trying to get tenders for R125 million of Covid-19 personal protective equipment. They say the contract has been cancelled and “we deeply regret the error of judgment”. Or, we wonder, do you deeply regret getting found out? We sense self-pitying tears in the King’s remark that he has “endeavoured to attain entrepreneurial experience and engage in business enterprises that will benefit my family and the community I serve, which remains largely poor and socially and economically marginalised”.

Well that explains it. You’re a selfless person who only wants to help others. Like everyone else in the ANC… At least Smuts Ngonyama, former ANC national spokesman, put in honestly when, some years ago, he said: “I didn’t join the struggle to be poor…” In the ANC, clearly, virtue is not its own reward.

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