Accountability deferred

Former president Jacob Zuma's most enduring legacy is state capture.

- William Saunderson-Meyer

That's the dark art by which a clique of crooks, abetted by ANC politicians and party-aligned officials, tapped the arteries of government finance to drain the nation's lifeblood: taxpayer money.

The Zondo commission laid bare the anatomy of the project, but could not deliver a cure. Corruption is no longer an aberration but SA's default condition. The public no longer expects accountability and politicians no longer fear it.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's administration is now in its eighth year of failure. While the headline figures for state looting may have eased, the reach and scope of the disease have expanded into every sector of national life.

The recent bombshell allegations by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi portray a police force infiltrated by powerful, criminally linked factions vying for dominance.