To be a member of the ruling party, one needs to fork out only R12 a year. If, for argument's sake, the party has about a million paid-up members, that comes to about R12-million a year to run an organisation ultimately responsible for Africa's most sophisticated economy and one of the leading emerging-market economies in the world. That's the enterprise value of the ANC, an institution more than 100 years old. With the ANC's senior management earning salaries comparable to those of ministers, it's within reason to believe that membership fees don't trickle beyond the top floors of Luthuli House. In such a dire financial situation, it's no wonder that members with the deepest pockets hold sway in most debates that in any way affect their interests. The ANC has long been bought, which may not have come as much of a surprise to many of the party's critics. But when a cabinet minister took up the cause of a private family in both parliament and in private Swiss boardrooms, for the rest...
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