The Week That Was

by the Editors

There is a disturbing similarity between events in the US and here in South Africa. In both countries the rule of law has been subverted and in some cases abused to suit the needs of politicians. So desperate is the ‘establishment’ to get Hillary Clinton elected the FBI Director Comey, much to the chagrin of most of his staff, decided against prosecuting Mrs Clinton for committing egregious security breaches while Secretary of State. The Clintons have been above the law for a long time. While president, Bill committed perjury when he lied to a Grand Jury investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair. Any normal American citizen would have been jailed but not ‘Slick Willy’ who slipped off the hook thanks to the support of Democrats in both Congress and the Senate. In much the same way the South African president, despite hundreds of criminal charges leveled against him, seems able to circumvent the system much to the dismay of the majority of his compatriots. That America, is now on a level with most African countries where the law is there to be used as a weapon to further a political agenda is terribly sad.

The press has been in full flight broadcasting details of Trump’s bawdy comments about what he likes to do to women. The fact that millions of men have almost certainly made similar comments at some point in their lives is lost in a horribly contrived, sanctimonious frenzy which Mrs Obama wasted no time in weighing into. She expressed disgust at ‘The Donald’ while warning her audience that these comments prove conclusively that the man is unfit for the Oval Office. This from a woman who regularly entertains ‘Rappers’ at lavish state dinners who have become rich and famous belting out obscene lyrics all about sex, violence and race, that surely are poisoning the minds of millions of young fans. Mrs Obama also had nothing to say about the fact that while Trump talked, Bill Clinton did less talking and more actual stalking leading to allegations of rape that he has not denied.

If Trump has done nothing else in the course of his campaign he has proved that the US media is not about reporting anymore and all about buttressing a preferred candidate’s position even if they have to lie and lie they are doing plenty of. If all else fails, it now looks increasingly likely, the system will be rigged to insure a Trump defeat at the polls. Sadly, once again, the US is lined up with Africa where manipulating elections is old hat in most countries.

At home the bad news keeps coming and the ANC ship of state sits ever lower in the water as Pravin Gordhan goes on the attack with startling revelations about the Guptas. One wonders how this will all end and will the real villains ever be called to account. The stakes are high, because just as a loss of political power may mean Hillary Clinton will face a criminal trial, the same applies to JZ. One can only imagine those the president has been in cahoots with, are closing ranks around him and encouraging him to stand firm. The problem for them is if he goes they may well follow because he won’t be going down alone.

We will almost certainly never know how much money has been stolen and squandered under ANC rule but the figure is a frightening one and the plundering continues. We all know how horrible the nasty Afrikaner Nationalists were who ruled previously and most apologists for ANC misrule tell us that the ANC is simply carrying on where the ‘Nats’ left off but we beg to differ slightly. It’s interesting to note that former Prime Minister J.G. Strydom was so fastidious about misuse of government funds he insisted on posting his own letters to be sure he personally paid for their transmission. It’s very difficult to imagine any of our current rulers viewing their fiduciary responsibilities to the people they are supposed to serve in a similar light. In the modern world we all seem to have decamped to a position where we agree that our political leadership has a right to steal, it’s only the quantum that is in dispute.