South Africans are punch-drunk from weekly disclosures of new incidents of state capture and theft of public resources. The amounts are so great and varied that it is difficult to calculate how much has been stolen. Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan believes it could exceed R100bn. Public disillusionment with government agencies is equalled by disenchantment with other societal institutions that are supposed to prevent such criminality. Yet auditors, lawyers, consultants and others appear to have protected the criminals rather than expose their misdeeds. Incidents of corporate complicity together with malfeasance unrelated to state capture have added to the growing despondency. While impatience with the slow progress in bringing the perpetrators to justice is understandable, it is important to remember that misdeeds have actually been exposed. We need to give thanks for the heroes who revealed incidents of gross theft and misrule, sometimes at great personal cost. These inc...

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