Published on Linkedin on December 12, 2017
In the book ‘Stepping Stones, published in 2012, I included a chapter on ‘Kleptocracy’.
I said at the time:
‘Kleptocracy derives from the Greek words kleptos, meaning ‘thief’, and kratos,
meaning ‘rule’. It is a word used to describe a government widely engaged in
corruption to extend the personal wealth and political power of individuals in the ruling
class.
A corrupt and dishonest government, characterised by greed, is described as
kleptocratic. Such a government is typically run by rulers who are thieves and who
pillage public funds to the detriment of the poor, sometimes without the pretence of
offering any form of honest public service. These kleptocrats then exploit a country’s
natural resources for their own greedy benefit.
The money on which these evil managers of men prey is almost always funds
earmarked for the building of public amenities, schools, hospitals, roads, parks and
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public facilities. Thus, the ordinary citizen is prejudiced, inconvenienced and deprived
by these selfish kleptocrats.
The term ‘kleptocrat’ was first used in the 1960s to describe the activities of the ruler
of the independent Congo, Colonel Joseph Mobutu, who plundered the rich natural
resources of that country for his personal benefit. However, the term could equally
have applied to his colonial predecessor, King Leopold II of Belgium. It is said that the
megacity of Brussels, a European Union bastion, was built with the kleptocratic
proceeds of the resources of the Congo Basin.
The story of Africa is one of the Europeans plundering the natural resources of the
continent and then, when caught with their hands in the cookie jar, hastily effecting
a democratic handover to the most likely African kleptocrat.
This book has urged you young South Africans to develop your own sense of right and
wrong, your own morality, your own ethics and your own zone of indifference. This in
the absence of a reliable schooling and education system. It is a ploy of all kleptocrats
known to man, to restrain the emerging youth from education, thus guaranteeing for
themselves a stratum of humanity upon which to prey. Be warned. Be alert. Be careful.
Be your own person and be democratic. It has taken Nigeria 40 years to learn this
painful lesson.
See Biznews article https://www.biznews.com/africa/2016/02/24/lessons-nigeria-
pitfalls-kleptocracy-sa-take-note/
Speaking in the House of Lords recently, Lord Peter Hain said ‘I feel very strongly that
South Africa is in the grip of a corrupt crony elite. We’ve heard about White Monopoly
Capital. This is a Corrupt Crony Monopoly Elite and it is in danger of so seriously destroying all prospects for the economy, which is a resilient economy and can get
through this I’m sure, but there’s massive damage being done (investor confidence
being damaged) and thousands and thousands of people who should be in jobs,
denied that opportunity. The poorest of the poor being exploited, houses not being
built, hospitals not being built, doctors not being trained, schools not being properly
equipped, teachers not being properly trained, which all could be done with these
billions that are being corruptly laundered’.
Mariann Thamm in her piece, Analysis: Bell Pottinger has taught us what to treasure
in the long, painful haul back to freedom -Daily Maverick, 10 July 2017. She sums up the sentiments of most South Africans that, “many, many lives were lost on the road
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to securing this fragile and flawed democracy we currently enjoy but are in danger of
losing to a kleptocratic class linked to the current leadership of the ANC and who have
no respect for the law, or the history, or the goals of the liberation struggle. South
Africans do not want to relive the trauma of the past. We must deal with the structural
inequality and an economy that does not work for the country’s black majority, but
we have a pragmatic understanding that this will not be accomplished through a civil
war, through the provocation of unrest and hatred”.
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