Politics and power can be seductive to the point where those elected to political office are susceptible to drifting further and further away from the people and mandate they're supposed to represent - and then follows a rude awakening.

As we have seen these past two weeks, this is precisely where the ANC found itself: cap in hand before the South African people as it battled to remain in power.

For many in the ANC, in the past 30 years, while the party had a clear majority in government, their political power also made economic power accessible to them and their families and friends. Stories abound about doctored tender processes, bastardised black economic empowerment deals and underhanded, lucrative mining deals.

This makes one suspicious about the ANC's new disposition and why we should entertain it. Its elite have seemingly forgotten what their oaths of public service required of them over these past few years.

The purpose of this reflection, however, is to tease out what has been a niggling concern of mine as the various post-election scenarios have played out, and that is the constant uttering of "being humbled", specifically by the secretary-general of the ANC. It seems a simple enough statement and, some might say, a fitting description of what has happened to the party.

But I'm not convinced that Fikile Mbalula, who was seen campaigning in impoverished rural communities in a flashy R3-million Mercedes-Benz G-Class, is exactly...