ANC MPs have recently been subjected to a barrage of criticism for their conduct over the Yengeni debacle.

Indeed, the ANC as a whole has been targeted for being soft on corruption and allowing leaders to get away with wrongdoing without incurring organisational sanctions.

Our tradition is to leave such matters to be dealt with by the leading structures, as there are clear lines of reporting and resolution.

However, the vigour of the press attack on MPs has made me uncomfortable and I am beginning to feel that each of us is in danger of being condemned through guilt by association.

While it is true that every MP may be judged by the conduct of the organisation as a whole, it is also the case that the individual MP is accountable to the public.

That we were elected indirectly, by the system of party lists, does not diminish individual accountability.

I feel that my personal integrity is being questioned by the press, albeit only as a member of the ANC parliamentary collective, and I want to respond.

I deplore the present revelations of corruption, particularly where the individual concerned occupies an important public office.

Such people carry the additional responsibility for proper behaviour as they set a standard for others.

But I am also deeply uncomfortable about the increasingly frequent exposures of corruption in other parties and other places, especially in the public service.

In many cases the offence is relatively minor, such as a reduction in the price of some commodity, rather than the donation of the commodity itself.

Believe me, the transgressions of some of our people are trivial compared to what goes on in other countries.

Nevertheless, we must take action against each manifestation of corruption or face an ever deteriorating situation.

I keep asking myself, as all South Africans should do, what has gone wrong?

Why is it that some cadres who were prepared to face prison, torture and even death rather than give in to blandishments are now so easily won by a small inducement?

How has this corruption of the spirit happened?

There are no easy answers, but if we place ourselves in the shoes of such cadres, some degree of explanation comes to mind.

ANC cadres have been catapulted into positions of authority and high status almost overnight.

They are expected to doff their T-shirts and jeans and replace them with suits and ties.

They are expected to conform to the manners of the business boardroom and fit into a lifestyle appropriate to the status of the white elite.

Many have moved out of the townships and into the former white suburbs. Some forget that the lifestyle of the white suburb was based on cheap labour.

There are no direct instructions for them to conform to this lifestyle, they just fall into line.

The only political encouragement comes from the ANC policy of "deracialising the economy" and "black economic empowerment" - both of which are read as the necessity to occupy high positions in the economy and society and legitimising individual upward mobility.

In some cases this easily translates into practices of conspicuous consumption and greed, despite warnings from the ANC leadership.

In other words, the dramatic transition being experienced in South Africa places extraordinary social pressures on previously disadvantaged individuals and some are clearly surrendering to temptations that lead to their downfall.

Those of us who were not so disadvantaged need to be generous in our judgments, but severe in our actions. We need to understand the reasons for wrongdoing, but be tough in the sanctions imposed.

If we fail in the latter, we face a nasty future.

With acknowledgements to Prof Ben Turok MP (ANC) and Cape Argus.