It seems unlikely we’ll ever have an honest conversation about corruption.
It was not unexpected that Deputy President Paul Mashatile would pull the race card – it’s a defence mechanism often used by the ANC – but it was unusual that he pulled it on a fellow African.
DA MP Bax Nodada questioned Mashatile in parliament about how he showed up at this year’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) with Moses Tembe, a businessman who had benefited from a National Lottery contract worth billions.
A News24 investigation found that this tender is riddled with indirect connections to Mashatile.
He further questioned Mashatile on his luxurious lifestyle, which he described as being beyond a deputy president’s salary.
But Mashatile continued to say many of the people that he had invited as his guests to the Sona are people he has known for decades.
Mashatile then said: “When black people become wealthy, you say, ‘Oh yes, they must have stolen somewhere, they must have gotten a tender somewhere irregularly’.
It’s even more shameful if it’s said by a black man like yourself (Nodada).”
And there we go: shut down a legitimate debate by implying the questioner is an Uncle Tom doing the bidding of whites.
That’s why it seems unlikely we’ll ever have an honest conversation about corruption.
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