ANC tree of bad apples

The Sunday Times reported last weekend that the ANC Youth League may be implicated in a R500m bribery scandal. German author Johann Fischart coined the aphorism “the apple never falls far from the tree”, and how true this is in respect of the league as they adroitly emulate their elders with their misconduct.

If it is true that R500m was paid to league president Collen Maine to “rescue” an Eskom coal deal, this self-deception is yet another manifestation of the league’s corrupt swindling.

With Dudu Myeni’s request for a R6bn loan for South African Airways (SAA) having been rejected by Public Investment Corporation (PIC) CEO Dan Matjila, there are murmurs that the government may nevertheless use PIC funds to recapitalise SAA and other state-owned enterprises.

As a result of wholesale plundering, the state has depleted most of its liquid resources. It now seeks to raid the piggy bank. If this occurs, the real losers will be the pensioners of the Government Employees Pension Fund.

However, that does not seem to matter to the ANC or the government, which are still contemplating snatching the R1.9-trillion held by the PIC.

With an estimated R600bn so far lost to theft, corruption and dysfunction, I am beginning to think that having the ANC in government is like having Al Capone in the Central Intelligence Agency. The ANC is no longer a liberation movement; it is a cabal of mobsters masquerading as a government.

Nathan Cheiman

Northcliff