The word “treason” should not be lightly bandied about, since doing so invites misunderstanding of its true meaning and, further, could prompt an unanticipated backlash.
My dictionary defines the word as “a violation of allegiance to one’s sovereign or to one’s state” or “the betrayal of a trust or confidence, breach of faith; treachery”. May one, therefore, be forgiven for bringing to mind the adage involving stones and glass houses?
After all, it is surely evident to all thinking South Africans that the ANC benches in parliament are populated by individuals who have been judged to have lied to the Constitutional Court, those who have stolen taxpayer money to fund Gupta festivities, and yet others who have robbed the fiscus to support their extravagant lifestyles.
That “t” word readily comes to mind.
John Spira, Johannesburg
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