Not all helping hands come clad in good and sincere intentions

A cabinet minister doles out a relatively handsome donation to the bereaved family of a much-loved national figure to help cover funeral costs. All’s well and clear, what could possibly be wrong?

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Maybe not, politicians in this country have given the people enough reason to question their every move, even actions that may have been inspired by nothing other than compassion, empathy and good old humanitarianism, the much-hallowed ubuntu, are to be taken with a pinch of salt.

It is not a scepticism born of thin air but of the track record of this species of humankind, which has perfected the art of exploitation and manipulation of the less fortunate.

But we live in a digital world, where, at the touch of a button, a worldwide search of anybody’s past can be laid bare for all to see - skeletons marching uninvited out of long-forgotten closets.