When President Cyril Ramaphosa states that the ANC wants to fight corruption, one would like to take him at his word. The ANC's national executive committee's decision requiring ANC office bearers to step aside when they have been charged is merely an internal ANC arrangement, which in fact is also not implemented effectively.

The ANC at present is still in charge of the state machinery and unless there is visible, effective, timely action by the state, the citizens of SA justifiably ask themselves whether Ramaphosa was speaking in his capacity only as ANC leader or also as president of the Republic.

The inordinate delays in the state being seen to be dealing with the obvious criminal dealings involving hundreds of millions of misappropriated taxpayer’s funds, justifiably convinces South Africans that there appears to be little desire to deal effectively with excessive theft by mostly ANC state officials at all levels of state machinery, from local government level to the very top.

If that is the fruits of freedom under democracy, it is no wonder that there is rampant criminal looting, hijacking and fraud. Respect for orderly law and order becomes non-existent if the state fails to ensure ordinary citizens' rights.

V A Volker, Pietermaritzburg, KZN