Having read Stephen Mulholland's excellent analysis of crime in South Africa (The Citizen, February 15), I agree that the situation is insoluble.

There is no need to repeat any of his arguments, they are complete in themselves.

But my concerns go further than crime.

I submit that the reasons behind all that ails SA can be summed up in four words: political ambition, greed and corruption.

In his seminal work The Fate of Africa, historian Martin Meredith describes the political, social and economic developments in the continent from the 1950s to the present.

He shows not one single country, excluding I suppose insignificant Botswana, has been anything but a total failure thanks in every case to those four words. Of the four, corruption is the most common and debilitating evil.

Should suspicion of corruption arise in any large corporation, I can think of only one reason why the CEO would not support a thorough investigation.

Perhaps Thabo Mbeki can teach me another, as he has done everything in his power to prevent the British finding out where the R1 billion is that BAe admits paying to "influential" people (the committee and senior government officials) around the arms deal.

Surely, if it had not done so, BAe would not admit to this gigantic fraud?

As chairman of the Arms Procurement Committee, did Mbeki have no inkling of that kind of money floating around?

No wonder Tony Blair was amazed at Mbeki's attack on him at Davos last month, citing double standards because Blair had terminated the investigation into a similar BAe deal with Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy so the money, if it did change hands, went to the government of that state.

So far, only Tony Yengeni has had to pay the price of a small discount of a 4x4. Everyone to whom I have spoken says Tony was a lightning conductor to keep the plebs happy.

His expression in the picture, as he exited Butlin's Malmesbury Holiday Camp, says it all. Screw you! I've done my bit for party and country. Now get out the cheque book and direct me to my new appointment. And don't forget, it better have a Maybach with a driver and body guard.

Last week, I heard a Zimbabwean accountant, who has made a new life here and is legally among us, phone into a radio talk show.

He said that most South Africans see the start of the Zim disaster as Mugabe's land grab. Not so, he says. The rot started in 1980 with corruption and nepotism.

By 2000, the populace wanted to see the end of Zanu-PF and Mugabe and said so in the referendum for a new constitution, which Bob lost.

The land grab was a populist move to bring back the masses to the Zanu-PF fold but since then, just to be sure, Mugabe has rigged every election.

So how far behind Zim is SA down the trail to disaster?

For myself, I have given up on SA. There is so much lack of "capacity" (the ANC term for incompetence), and those four disgraceful words, that I find it difficult not to become infuriated when I consider the general picture.

In earlier letters, I have written about the impotence of the opposition parties and that the ANC knows it will not be removed from power in this, and probably the next, generation.

Despite all reasons for his resignation as DA leader, I believe Tony Leon sees no hope and has just given up. Who can blame him?

Like Tony, I too can see no hope and I will not longer waste my time writing about SA politics.

That should at least bring a smile to Douglas Gibson. His revelation of the money involved in the family travels of the Nqakula clan, serves to support my reasoning.

Gosh! He doesn't keep receipts or records says the Minister. Perhaps he will soon come into the 20th Century and realise that a cancelled cheque is a receipt. Or does he carry R300 000 in his back sky as petty cash?

With acknowledgements to Carl Werth and The Citizen.