RAY Hartley tweeted this week, in response to a story about the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) canning a show on the now infamous Gupta family: "As the old saying goes, if you want to capture the state, start with the state broadcaster." He is a sage observer is Hartley, but the fact is the SABC was captured ages ago. Open that door and the ANC’s systematic approach to state capture makes the Gupta family’s influence look like mild beer."State capture" and "The Guptas" are two ideas that have recently captured the public’s imagination. The South African public often exhibits these sorts of fashionable spasms. An idea, ostensibly novel, somehow makes its way into the national dialogue and, overnight, its grip on how we think and analyse current affairs becomes almost hegemonic in its reach and depth. As long as the spasm holds there is no other universe. Everything is seen and interpreted through that lens.But the truth is the African National Congress (ANC) has been i...
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