Lesson on graft from China

We were profoundly mistaken to believe that the end of apartheid and the rise of a black-led democratic state would usher in a new era of integrity or, at the very least, curb corruption.

- Eric Naki

Yet, judging by the current trajectory, it seems the most troubling chapters may still be ahead of us.

From a rural clinic to an urban traffic department, all the way to the highest office in the land, corruption persists across the public system. It has reached a stage where corruption has become normalised.

In the past 30 years, less than a dozen politicians have seen the inside of a prison cell, or been expelled from the party.

You struggle to use the 10 digits of your hands to count those who once wore the orange overalls behind bars.

Our politicians steal with impunity while wielding their influence to undermine the justice system, ensuring that police investigations are obstructed.

The latest is the suspended minister of police, who confessed to disbanding a task team probing the scourge of political killings.

There are allegations of his link to criminal syndicates.