SOUTH AFRICA: With one former African National Congress guerrilla commander admitting to defrauding parliament and another taking three months leave of absence to deal with charges that he accepted 500,000 rand (€55,000) while he was a Cabinet minister, South Africa's ANC-led government finds itself under attack for - to quote opposition spokeswoman Raenette Taljaard - "moral and ethical turpitude".
Former ANC guerrilla Tony Yengeni has admitted to lying to parliament when he denied receiving a discount of nearly 50 per cent for a luxury vehicle from one of the companies bidding for a contract to supply fighter aircraft to the South African Defence Force.
Mr Yengeni is a former chairman of the parliamentary defence committee, a position which he held when he accepted the discount.
Former Transport Minister "Mac" Maharaj allegedly accepted payments and gifts worth 500,000 rand, according to a front-page report in the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times. A former guerrilla leader as well as Cabinet minister, Mr Maharaj is now an executive with a major South African bank who earns more than one million rand a year. He is alleged to have been the Minister of Transport at the time of the purported "kickbacks".
A businessman, Schabir Shaik, is alleged to have funnelled the money and gifts into the hands of Mr Maharaj and his wife. Mr Shaik is the financial adviser to deputy president Jacob Zuma. He is himself under investigation by the elite investigation unit, the Scorpions, for allegedly being in possession of Cabinet minutes relating to the controversial multi-billion rand arms deal.
Mr Shaik is the chief executive of Nkobi Holdings, which, in turn, is part of the N3 Toll Consortium that won an 2.5-billion rand contract to upgrade a major motorway during Mr Maharaj's tenure as transport minister.
Mr Maharaj had declined to comment, except to say: "All contracts awarded by the Department of Transport during my tenure of office are a matter of public record."
Two more high ranking ANC leaders are under suspicion for corruption: Deputy President Zuma and ANC Women's League president Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Mr Zuma is reported to be under investigation by the Scorpions for allegedly soliciting a 500,000 rand protection fee from one of the companies that was successful in winning an arms contact, Thompson CSF. His office has vehemently rejected the allegations against him as malicious and defamatory.
Ms Madikizela-Mandela has already been formally charged in court of fraud and theft. The completion of the trial is pending.
Ms Taljaard has described the ANC notables under suspicion of corruption as "a motley crew".
ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama observes that the allegations against three of the four ANC leaders are untested and that they are entitled to the presumption of innocence.