The Carl Niehaus saga reflects badly on the social consciousness of the ANC and proves the moral decay of the ruling party.

The Carl Niehaus saga reflects badly on the social consciousness of the ANC and proves the moral decay of the ruling party.

The luxuries Niehaus, pictured, entertained himself with, not that he could afford them, fall outside the frame of reference of the ANC's core constituency, indeed the poorest of the poor.

Any word of sympathy that he might ever have expressed regarding the circumstances of the poor were nothing more than lip service.

The Niehaus story is actually not isolated. The ANC's presidential candidate is facing corruption charges.

But the ANC is trying every trick in the book to keep Zuma out of court - so much for accountability.

The ANC leadership also preferred to look the other way when it emerged that Niehaus had forged signatures to obtain funds for his personal expenses.

The culture of corruption is indeed rife within the ruling party. Self-enrichment is the norm and the plight of the poor goes unheard.

The ANC has reached the end of the road and election results will confirm this.

Francois Bekker, Muckleneuk