The foul mood of the country will lift if we see looters frogmarched to prison in leg irons

Listening to the questions posed to President Cyril Ramaphosa in parliament this week, one would have sworn the most important issue facing the country was who had donated to his successful campaign for the ANC leadership. It was almost as though our lives depended on the millions splurged on this endeavour.

That is not to suggest that the obscene amounts of money raised by Ramaphosa are kosher. Not at all. There’s a powerful stench about the whole thing; it’s unethical and it offends the values we’re supposed to stand for. It also sticks in the craw that so much money should be tossed about with such gay abandon for an election campaign in a country where many people still go to bed on empty stomachs and children still drown in pit toilets. It’s Orwellian. It also goes against the grain of what people thought they were buying into when Ramaphosa came into office: an open, honest and compassionate administration — as opposed to the depravity of his predecessor. Ramaphosa was also not entirely forthcoming with the truth on his knowledge of the donations.

Money and politics always make for a toxic mix. Yet one cannot exist without the other. One has only to look at the pernicious influence of dark money in US politics. Despite the horrific carnage that guns are wreaking in the US — and the overwhelming public desire for something to be done about it — the political establishment has become almost impervious to pleas for sensible gun control legislation because most politicians, including the president, are in the pockets of — and therefore in awe of — the National Rifle Association, the gun rights advocacy group. One would hope that SA is not headed in that direction.

Ramaphosa’s campaign donations, while unethical, are not illegal. He hasn’t broken any law. What’s more, his critics are themselves not squeaky clean. They’re therefore open to the charge that their fulmination is merely driven by envy. Who among them can honestly say they would have turned down the donations? We’re in the realm of the pot calling the kettle black.

Because most of Ramaphosa’s donors are white, some parties have seized on the opportunity to play the race card, suggesting a sinister racial motive. Ramaphosa has simply gone where the money is. Why did you rob the bank, Willie Sutton, the legendary bank robber, was asked. Because that’s where the money is, he replied.

The other parties should also reveal their sources of funding, or shut up. Otherwise the outrage is not only hypocritical and disingenuous, but nauseating. It’s also interesting that none of the parties are suggesting any law or measures to limit the influence of money in our politics — because they don’t want any restriction or exposure of their funders. They should at least put their money where

their mouths are if they want us to buy into their fury.

The most critical issues facing the country do not seem to induce as much fury or excitement. The economy has tanked, putting paid to any hope of making a serious dent on the unemployment rate, the highest in the world. Crime — and corruption — have almost become emblematic of our society.

While it is understandable that nursing the economy back to health will take some time and effort, attacking crime — especially of the white-collar variety — should already be bearing some fruit. A few high-profile culprits, politicians among them, should be behind bars by now. That would at least convince the public that something was being done about the scourge. Instead, people are getting fed up that after all the revelations of billions stolen and lost to state capture, the vast sums remain unrecovered and not a single soul has been arrested.

It’s about time the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) got a move on. We’re getting tired of excuses about why things can’t be done. Most of the culprits are not only known, they’re prancing around giving the public the twofinger salute while they live large on ill-gotten gains. If most of the information is already in the public domain, what is holding the criminal justice system back? For instance, Terry Motau’s report on the looting and eventual destruction of the VBS bank has chapter and verse of how, when and who committed the crime. Some of the culprits are sitting in parliament, drafting the country’s laws without any shame at all. All the police have to do is throw the bastards into the slammer. Before that we had the Guptaleaks with even more startling revelations. And so, what exactly are the authorities waiting for? Are they being paid to sit around and gaze at their navels? The public is running out of patience.

Ramaphosa gave a diplomatic response when asked in parliament about the apparent inaction over the VBS obscenity. That was understandable, but what the country wants to hear is the government expressing its disquiet at the lack of action. People won’t be satisfied until they see the big fish — not the bag handlers, but the organ grinders — being frogmarched in chains to prison.

The country is in a foul mood, with a poor economy and crime impacting negatively on people’s lives. Dealing decisively with the culprits behind the rampant corruption could go some way to assuaging the public and reassuring them that the government is at least trying to solve some of the problems.

Shamila Batohi has been at the helm at the NPA for more than six months now and all we’ve heard from her so far is what a shambles the place is. But that’s why she was hired: to fix the place. She needs to get on with it now.

No more excuses, please. The honeymoon is over.