'The events of the past few weeks have perhaps been the lowest point in South Africa's democratic history' 

I give up. The ANC has succeeded in what it set out to do. I'm confused, disillusioned and irate. Will someone please explain just how the impending probe into South Africa's R43-billion arms acquisition became a maze of intrigue, accusation and concealment?

What and who are we to believe? We no longer know who lies or speaks the truth. We don't know who the true defenders of democracy are or who is intent on breaking it down.

The events of the past few weeks have perhaps been the lowest point in South Africa's democratic history. I've heard more from Justice Minister Penuell Maduna than I ever care to hear in future. Now I know what my mother meant when she said: "Leë blikke maak die meeste geraas [Empty vessels make the most noise]."

And we have a President who twists and turns on his own word and toys with the trust South Africans have placed in him. He shies away from being honest with us. He uses a special broadcast to launch a vicious attack on a judge.

The brouhaha over Judge Willem Heath's participation in the arms probe seems like a smokescreen to hide the real issue of exactly what happened when the deal was struck.

Dallying with Judge Heath postpones the inevitable. There must be an arms investigation, and it must be seen to be transparent.

We now have critics who compare the arms probe with the Info Scandal that saw NP government ministers tumble from their elected perches because they abused the trust their constituents placed in them. Is this what we want for our democracy?

Yet, when explanations are sought from the ANC, it responds boorishly. Oh, it seems to say, only unpatriotic critics who wish to see the new South Africa flounder, the white opposition and the maverick Patricia de Lille would voice opposition to such a deal.

Neither does President Thabo Mbeki endear himself. When and if a time comes when the nation must stand behind him, he might find himself all alone. After the AIDS fiasco, when he danced with dissidents on the causal link between HIV and AIDS and caused confusion with his poverty-causes-AIDS statements, we thought things were going to get better. But he seems intent on outdoing himself this time.

There are South Africans who believe that any condemnation of Mbeki and his government is racist, unpatriotic and a vicious effort to bring a good man down. But Mbeki does not need our help to bury himself in a quagmire of arrogance, distrust and intolerance to criticism. He is clearly capable of doing it on his own.

He appears to have forgotten that the majority of South Africans, to whom he so fondly calls attention when it suits him, have placed their trust in him. He has stopped repaying or respecting that trust.

Perhaps this would be a good time for Mbeki to consider the recent near-impeachment of a US president.

When Bill Clinton cheated on his wife and did the deed in the Oval Office, he outraged the American nation. When things went wrong, he was forced into an admission of guilt. He had a liaison with a White House intern. He did damage to the image of a presidency. He asked for forgiveness.

When I visited Washington in 1998, it was clear that a significant number of Americans had forgiven him. At a White House function for former President Nelson Mandela, African-Americans including Martin Luther King jnr's daughter shouted at the media and the Republicans who were baying for Clinton's blood. "Leave him alone, leave him alone," they chanted. Eventually, he was left alone.

For our democracy to prosper and flourish, we need our leaders to accept responsibility when things go wrong. Just hearing them do so makes us trust them more. But when they behave like recalcitrant children intent on having their way, we begin to wonder about their ability to lead.

Where did things go wrong? When did the ANC start believing its own publicity that it would always be the one and only defender of democracy and choice of South Africa's people? Eventually, another, more representative champion will arrive who will listen to the people and not to a party that believes it is above those who voted it into power. 

With acknowledgement to Phylicia Oppelt and the Sunday Times.