Don’t fall for the bait and switch

We must warn against seeking and reading news in a way that confirms our positions [View this email in your browser]( February 25, 2021 [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, Last week, we wrote about the [men who make malfeasance happen]( detailing how companies like Deloitte and KPMG facilitate public- and private-sector corruption on a large scale. In a new twist, [VBS Mutual Bank’s liquidators are blaming KPMG for the “fraudulent” ransacking of the bank’s billions]( saying the auditing firm’s “negligence” spawned the alleged looting. VBS’s liquidator Anoosh Rooplal has argued in court documents that the auditing firm is liable to pay back the money because its auditor, Sipho Malaba, wilfully breached his obligations to the bank. Rooplal aims to retrieve looted money, all R863 597 526.86 (to the cent) from KPMG. These claims are contained in a lawsuit, in which liquidators said the money was owed to VBS by KPMG for signing off a March 2017 financial statement, which ratified “a fraudulent scheme being perpetrated upon [VBS] between 17 July 2017 and 10 March 2018”. Although it is satisfying to watch events like arrests, fines and lawfare unfold, we must warn against seeking and reading news in a way that confirms our positions. VBS. The rogue unit. Unsealing Ramaphosa’s bank accounts. Expropriation without compensation. Anything will do. We are at that stage where most arguments, especially online, are typified by the “motte and bailey” fallacy. What’s that? In the years after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror erected fortresses to showcase Norman power and discourage rebellion in his new kingdom. These were called motte-and-bailey structures, consisting of a lightly walled bailey (a fortification) where people could live, work and play most of the time, and a tower called the motte, where defenders could offer a last-ditch defence if the bailey were overrun. Despite their simple and relatively rough design, motte and baileys had excellent defensive capabilities. Attackers soon found out that the keep on top of the motte was surprisingly hard to capture, because the height of the motte and the ditch surrounding it gave defenders a significant defensive advantage. The “[motte-and-bailey doctrine]( was developed by a British professor of philosophy, Nicholas Shackel. This is an argument which uses two viewpoints that seem equivalent but are not. In it, the person making the argument makes a wild claim that is hard to support, and upon pushback, retreats to a much-easier-to-defend position. Effectively, it is bait and switch. A two-step, if you will. A common strategy to allow objectionable content to remain online is to establish a motte around censorship. “Censorship is always bad (motte), therefore I should be allowed to post Nazi propaganda on any platform I choose (bailey).” In our context, someone who believes in having anyone remotely associated with VBS arrested should not, when challenged about the finer points of this assertion, respond with: “What about Steinhoff?” as some kind of “gotcha!” We understand that the winding trek justice often takes can be gnawingly frustrating. The track record of many of our institutions hardly makes the process more bearable. The National Prosecuting Authority has [moved at a glacial pace in the past]( much like the Special Investigating Unit, which has also been criticised for taking ages to get people inside a courtroom. The NPA has disputed claims that any delays in finalising the saga were down to the ineptitude of its prosecutors. If we caution against the state making arrests so quickly, that’s not to say we don’t want the people who stole from mostly impoverished, elderly widows and orphans not to be brought to book. What is important is for the state to take its time and not to get caught up in online debates and shock-and-awe arrest sprees. Rather, it must take its time to make a solid case: the type of case where charges stick; the kind of case that ensures convictions. Yours in solidarity, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Subscribe now]( Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2021 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences or unsubscribe here.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Mail & Guardian Media LTD · 25 Owl St · Braamfontein · Johannesburg, Gauteng 2001 · South Africa