I RECENTLY read about outgoing Standard Bank' chairman Derek Cooper's R7,5 million golden handshake and cringed.

I RECENTLY read about outgoing Standard Bank' chairman Derek Cooper's R7,5 million golden handshake and cringed.

I suppose private-sector corruption is accepted and appreciated in South Africa. The majority of beneficiaries happened to be white people and the media does not see much wrong with ill-gotten money in white hands.

The only corruption the media and the righteous opposition parties care about is that of black people, who by and large are the poorest of the poor.

I do not condone corruption in whatever form, shape or size, but it is sickening that white collar crime and corruption by rich, white people is treated with a lot of respect and sympathy by the majority of media houses and opinion makers.

What we need in this country is economic democratisation. Then we can begin to talk about Tata Madiba's rainbow nation. Then we will begin to look like a normal society. Let us stop making a noise about unimportant issues such as Julius Malema, ET, renaming streets, Tshwane vs Pretoria, ministers' cars and so on.

People are hungry and cannot eat democracy and World Cup fever. President Jacob Zuma confirmed the above at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Tanzania recently.

Speaking about democracy, Zuma said it was meaningless if a country obtained democracy, but poverty prevailed.

"People can't eat democracy," he said.

Economic freedom is what the majority needs.

Siyabonga Seme, Cape Town