| Our local daily newspaper is full of attention grabbing | | | | your tax is a national sport, do you do it with |
| headlines, aside from the daily regulars such as rape, | | | | honesty and integrity, is not paying your VAT any |
| murder, perhaps a cash-in-transit robbery or a son | | | | less a crime than shoplifting, is it acceptable for an |
| killing his father over an argument about firewood, | | | | estate Agent to operate without a qualification or |
| there are also a multitude of stories about the | | | | certification, is telling a little white lie to your spouse |
| greedy and the gullible. For goodness sake, who is | | | | to save an argument any better or worse than |
| the next person to get suckered into the infamous | | | | fraud, perhaps a member of parliament not disclosing |
| Nigerian scam where some poor soul receives an | | | | an asset as he should. A simple one, taking a pen |
| approach from a Nigerian trying to get money out | | | | home from the office that was supplied by your |
| the country, but needing a few thousand to start the | | | | employer, is this less of a crime than shoplifting. |
| process, I ask you. | | | | If nothing else I hope this makes you think a little. |
| You've heard the one where someone buys | | | | Most of us reading this are parents, we are role |
| something, pays a huge amount of money into the | | | | models, if not at work then certainly in our homes, |
| suppliers bank account, an overpayment, and then | | | | we have a bounden duty and responsibility to our |
| requests this is reimbursed, the supplier does, only to | | | | families to set examples, to treat others as we |
| find the original transfer was reversed for some | | | | would like to be treated. |
| reason, a net loss to the supplier and the client | | | | For our new South African society, this leadership |
| nowhere to be seen. | | | | role should start at the top, the political and business |
| An element of unscrupulous greed has crept slowly | | | | top echelon, no, it is not acceptable to take gifts in |
| but surely into the daily society norm. Call it get rich | | | | return for favours, and these are called bribes and |
| quickly if you like where there are those who want | | | | constitute a fraudulent transaction. To the business |
| to profiteer unreasonably to the disadvantage of | | | | leaders, it is not acceptable to flaunt the rules, |
| others. In all walks of life this applies, the politician | | | | perhaps to dump waste illegally, to treat employees |
| ensuring his "sister" gets a contract with a little help | | | | unfairly or to profit personally while mistreating those |
| or influence, the traffic officer who says that if a | | | | in your care. It is not acceptable that a large business |
| small donation is made so his team can have a few | | | | does not re-invest in the well being of your staff and |
| beers after work, that he will magnanimously let a | | | | their families, a training program, literacy training and |
| culprit off a fine...blatant theft of money from the | | | | perhaps even lifting the education opportunities of |
| coffers of the people. Who is to blame? The person | | | | the children of your staff to make their and South |
| accepting the benefit, in our two examples, the | | | | Africa's future a little more positive. |
| "sister" and the "culprit" are just as guilty as the | | | | So come, not the most exciting article ever written |
| politician or the traffic officer. How do your scruples | | | | but ask yourself this as you lie awake at night, "what |
| stand up to this challenge, are you guilty? | | | | have I done today to make this world a better |
| When is a crime a crime? Are we all not a little guilty | | | | place? |
| of deciding where the line ends and begins, reducing | | | | |