Leaders all over the world have set the trend that power leads to corruption. There are many examples of corrupt practices worldwide, including the well-known US Watergate scandal, which culminated in president Richard Nixon losing power in 1973.

Thanks to those countries practising democracy, where corrupt leaders are punished, South Africa seems to be taking the right direction as our Constitution guarantees accountability. There is no element of personalisation of power, like in Italy where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi prevailed upon parliament to approve an immunity bill that will freeze a trial in which he is charged with bribing judges over a 1985 corporate takeover battle.

Recently, we have seen the Scorpions doing a wonderful job of exposing the corrupt practices of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Tony Yengeni.

Now, it is Deputy President Jacob Zuma who is in the spotlight.

My happiness over this good trend of expecting accountability from everybody has been dashed by a question which comes to mind: "Who bribes politicians?"

Politicians are usually bribed by people in the private sector, like Yengeni, whose bribery was allegedly linked to Daimler Chrysler, and Zuma, who allegedly accepted bribes from the French defence group, Thales. Futhermore, my limited knowledge of history tells me that even in democratic countries there is no total transparency as only public representatives have to account for their actions while the private sector is holier than Jesus. I would love to see a situation where everybody who is guilty is investigated and punished.

The flames of corruption are fuelled by a recipient orientated approach to corruption prevention strategies, whereby the private sector gets away with murder. As long as there are no punitive measures against the corrupt private sector, the flames of corruption will not be extinguished.

Are we trying to promote the values which say that a rich man is never corrupt? To make matters worse, while politicians are investigated, already in the public eye they are guilty. They remain guilty until proven innocent, unlike the rest of us who are innocent until proven guilty!

With acknowledgements Sthembiso Justice Langa and the City Press.