During a roadshow in SA last month, I opined that in cases like the unravelling Gupta scandal, events are likely to unfold just like Ernest Hemingway’s character described going bankrupt: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
With yesterday’s very public capitulation by the Guptas London communication firm Bell Pottinger, “suddenly” is here. To have any chance of saving the business, Bell Pottinger will now have to come very clean. Which means naming names, disclosing bank accounts, identifying cohorts. Recipients of its channelled largesse slept uneasily last night.
The next step for South Africa will be the ejection of the corrupted. And having learnt hard lessons, their roles will be filled by the many honest souls hounded out of positions of responsibility by the Zupta network of patronage. And there are many such talents waiting in the wings.
My tips for greater roles in the rejuvenation of Mandela’s nation are ex-PP Thuli Madonsela and former Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka – who was yesterday appointed to serve a second term as an executive director of the United Nations. The young democracy is winning the war against those who tried to derail it. Hope springs.
