In the case of Jimmy Manyi, it seems the prognosis is not good. The patient appears to be suffering from terminal mamparadom

Feel me on this. God, in his infinite wisdom, ensured the equal distribution of mamparas across race groups.

Every race has its fair share.

What He could not possibly have accounted for was that in a country as race-sensitive as South Africa, we would often not be able to separate an individual's race from his or her inherent mamparaness.

What He would also not account for is the reality that many a mampara gets away with being a mampara merely by going Defcon 5 and reaching for the race card (a real weapon of mass distraction).

Such an individual's first reaction to being called out on his or her behaviour is often to say: "You (insert relevant race) are calling into question my words/deeds simply because of my race."

No, you utter mampara, that's simply not true. Your words or deeds would be as offensive no matter which box you tick in the census.

Often our societal and political discourse is derailed by mamparas masquerading as leaders of their race groups. In other words: "I speak for you, I may be speaking utter tripe. But I'm one of you. You got my back, right?"

That's when I feel like the kid from The Sixth Sense, looking around to see if anyone else sees what I do ... I see mamparas.

Steve Hofmeyr, for example, is a real mampara. But it would be extremely prejudiced to believe he typifies all white Afrikaans-speaking individuals.

By the same token, racial solidarity should not be the prime motivation for defending a mampara. Some of Hofmeyr's comments are indefensible yet his apologists will rally to his defence saying "they" (i.e. Julius Malema, Bono, Stormers supporters) are provoking him.

On that score, I give you Jimmy Manyi. The backlash over his mamparaness is to be expected and applauded. Instead, the stance from government seems to be: "Our brother Jimmy is being attacked by the profit-driven, commercial, capitalist running-dog, counter-revolutionary media."

This is a guy who, last year, bombed out as director general of the Department of Labour after Norway's ambassador requested a meeting with the then minister, Membathisi Mdladlana, to raise concerns about Manyi's conduct during an official meeting.

"There were certain things discussed, and the way in which they were brought up in that meeting that we did not appreciate," ambassador Tor Christian-Hilda said at the time. The diplomat gave nothing away, but Manyi admitted offering to assist Norwegian companies with their BEE, um, issues. Ahem. Right.

Then Manyi follows up by doing something equally silly. Taking a job as government's chief spokesman - despite, or perhaps because of, his disdain for the press.

Now he unveils a plan to centralise government's advertising to ensure that only those who "tell it like Jimmy wants" get a taste of the state's advertising pie. "Government has the truth to communicate ... the people who are going to pass on our content much more effectively to the public are the people we will focus on, I can tell you this right now," Manyi said on Thursday. In other words: "You want my ad-spend, you dance to my tune."

Manyi proves the point that intellect is no barrier to mamparadom.

To recap, we've disqualified race and intelligence (or lack thereof) as contributing factors to mamparaness.

Thus, when the likes of Manyi come in for stick because of their words and/or deeds, the argument should not be that this is so because of either of those two factors.

The disease is indiscriminate, it strikes the rich, poor, intelligent and dumb alike.

It can manifest for a very short period. Or it can be a lifelong affliction. In the case of Manyi, it seems the prognosis is not good. The patient appears to be suffering from terminal mamparadom.

The only known cure is a course of serious self-reflection. But, as one of the primary symptoms of the disease is an unhealthy degree of arrogance, it's a bit of a Catch 22.

Here are some ground rules you may find useful. Identify the mampara, avoid if you can, confront if you must. But never ascribe his or her actions to an entire race or population group. And never protect the mampara simply because he or she is "one of our own".