http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2013/01/13/minister-splurges-r3.7-million-on-anc-art
Mineral
Resources Minister Susan Shabangu successfully bid R3.7-million for a portrait
of former president Nelson Mandela at an auction during the ANC's 101st
anniversary gala dinner.
The auction
raised R21.4-million in Durban on Friday night.
President Jacob
Zuma also told the gathering of South Africa's business and political elite
that "supporting the ANC means you're investing very well in your
business".
...
In his keynote address, Zuma said
businessmen who supported the ANC would see their fortunes multiply.
"We're not forcing people ...
you can support and be a supporter, but if you go beyond that and become a
member, [and] if you're a businessman, your business will multiply. Everything
you touch will multiply. I've always said that a wise businessperson will
support the ANC ... because supporting the ANC means you're investing very well
in your business."
...
Seats and
tables at the banquet cost between R5000 and R600000. Mining tycoon Patrice
Motsepe, the country's richest man, forked out R600000 to reserve a table with
Zuma, at which Shabangu was also seated.
Organisers
said seats at the 70-table banquet sold out within 10 days, raking in
R8.2-million.
...
At a press
conference earlier this week, Mantashe said proceeds from the dinner would be
channelled "into the running of the business of the ANC and its
campaigns".
"We are
an active organisation, so that money will go to the ANC to do its work." - Times Live
If you read the entire article, you will get a sense of nepotism wafting up into your nostrils. Most of the bidders were members of government or of businesses, looking to secure their subsidies...
Why is so much money thrown around all over the place when we so sorely need to act to make the world a more pleasant one for all beings living here? Why do we allow the rich to keep right on screwing us in our collective bungholes? "Oh, you're rich?" *bend over* "Please take me, right here, right now. I seem to be forgetting what it is I live for and I need you to remind me."
To what lengths are you willing to go to save a life? Would you be more likely to save the life if it was a dear friend or family member dangling precariously from a cliff, or would you be willing to asses the situation objectively and take care of the one least helpful to your cause? We are, in truth, faced with this dilemma on a daily basis: Every day, billions suffer needlessly. We could save them and create a new system that values life and in so doing prevents abuse - we just don't want to.
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