If the organisational culture of a liberation or independence movement — when in opposition — is soft on corruption in order to safeguard unity, condones using corrupt means to attain political ends and allows those managing organisational finances to do so without accountability, the government such a movement runs when it captures power will very quickly develop a culture of corruption.
This has been the case for the ANC when it operated as an exile opposition movement: tolerating corruption by certain powerful leaders, not strictly enforcing accountability in the management of funds, discouraging criticism of leaders’ behaviour by ordinary members and fostering a culture of corruption even before the party came to power in 1994.
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