Zuma wanted charges dropped because corruption is a 'Western thing'

[Pirate]

Messor, you hit the nail on the head, and echo the argument I've made for a while now: Zuma sees himself not as the president of the country, but as the King of South Africa (and, I'd wager, so does many of his cronies). From that viewpoint, he cannot fathom what the whole fuss is about, because as king he's entitled to enriching himself, it may even be argued that it's expected from the king.

:- P

[JS4]

How many of you guys have more than 1 wife, do you think it wrong?

I just don't know who has the time and/or money for more than one...

[Messor]

I just don't know who has the time and/or money for more than one...

Time and money are not prerequisites for a modern man to have more than 1 wife, the prerequisites are stupidity or masochism.

[drie57]

Democracy is also a Western concept, so is accountability, so is taking responsibility, so are expensive cars, Lear jets, suits, Swiss watches, electricity, medicine that works, heart and liver transplants, only having children that you can properly support, dishing out money and aid for those who are not responsible, etc. All the things those who hate the West enjoy so much.

[nkosi]

Well if corruption is a western thing then so to is money, much easier to ferret away a couple of million than 100 cows. So JZ must decide, you cannot enjoy the fruits of western capitalism without the associated control mechanisms that accompany the distribution thereof.

His comment merely illustrates a complete lack of intellect and or moral bankruptcy. Another in a long line of African leaders who have scant regard for the people of the country as they merrily continue plundering.

@nkosi. The West and it's governments are not just as corrupt, there is corruption but nowhere near the scale. We are talking wholesale plunder with no accountability and not just JZ but all the cohorts that he has set the example for. JZ would never have been elected president in any European country with those charges hanging over him. In the 1 in a million chance he would have been impeached shortly thereafter, not protected but his co-plunderers.

Hi Andrew

Ja, I agree with you to a point but I think as South Africans we often believe that we have the worst in terms of violent crime, corrupt & inefficient government etc, but it is not really true. (I think that there is a verse in the Bible that roughly paraphrased states: 'Every man thinks that his burden is the heaviest'). I just think that the older more established democracies are better at hiding the corruption.

The 'Global Financial Crisis' comes to mind as just one example - most of the MPs of almost every Western government should have been jailed for their involvement not only in terms of allowing & encouraging many corrupt & irresponsible financial practices to continue, but also (& especially for) making the citizens pay for & bail out the corrupt financial services sector and allowing the owners of those businesses to continue with their corrupt ways so that it can happen again. That is criminal.

Another recent example that comes to mind is the 'Halliburton' company (with Dick Cheney as CEO) scandal in the US regarding the grossly exaggerated charging for logistics supplied to the US military ( never mind the Nigerian bribery scandal) - it would seem that Dick Cheney was not the only member of the administration benefitting from this theft on a grand scale. How the hell not everyone of those thieves were put behind bars I will never know. What is more stunning, is that it did not spark as much outcry & political upheaval as it should have. I would have thought this would have sparked massive protests, but I was wrong.

Another example - last year on two occasions Australia (supposedly a democracy) had a prime minister at the helm who had not been elected by the citizens after some behind the scenes politicking & shenanigans (effectively a coup) - no referendum, nothing!!

Sometimes I think that corruption just looks worse in Africa because it is more unsophisticated and therefore more in our faces & due to the large numbers of poor, starving & homeless, seems even more callous.

[Johann du Toit]

In time Zuma will be ranked alongside the Philippines's Ferdinand Marcos, Congo's Mobutu Sese Seko, Nicaragua's Armando Aleman, Peru's Alberto Fujimori, Indonesia's Suharto, Kenya's Daniel Arap Moi, Haiti's Jean Claude Duvalier, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Zimbabwe's Mugarbage as one of the worst kleptocratic heads of state who robbed his country blind.

[Paul]

Eish - heaven help us

Heaven is a western thing...

[Castos]

Then "tokoloshe help us"

[Dirk777]

These words come to mind: "African solutions, for African problems" eish..

[A-R]

Then "tokoloshe help us"

The tokoloshe is already helping them (the cleptocratics), he will not be able to help us (against them) as well... Choose sides wisely.