We are losing the war on corruption

The overinflated fanfare of the State of the Nation Address is slowly fading away I hope. It is opportune to take up one very important issue which will bulk large in the lead up to the next General Elections.

This is the issue of corruption. The government spin doctors are ever so quick to point out what appears to be favourable ratings by outside bodies like Transparency International. These ratings seem so potent and validating, not so much because they express any truth, as the fact that they are from outside. They are relied upon to dismiss any concerns and criticisms of local provenance. Any serious engagement on issues of corruption is then supplanted and sacrificed because Transparency International has failed to appreciate the complex local web in which corruption manifests and thrives.