The rise and fall of a thug

WILLIAM "King of Bling" Mbatha will spend the next 35 years in prison for a string of crimes. And so he should.

While the spotlight was firmly on his lavish parties, dramatic court appearances, luxury cars and fashion acumen, I was more interested to know why so many were fawning over him. And it is not just some poor township folks who flocked around him, but so-called celebrities and the rich and famous who thought that being in his company meant "they had arrived".

How sad.

The media were also not immune to this sick pre-occupation with someone who should have been a reject. In reporting on Mbatha and his "career", some sections of our media deified him and glamorised his actions. Very often the reportage reflected a bizarre fascination, instead of the hard-hitting scrutiny he deserved.

I wrongly thought that when sordid details of his crimes emerged, those who tirelessly held vigil at his court appearances would reconsider their position.

During the robberies he committed, homeowners were handcuffed and suffocated with plastic bags by robbers who impersonated policemen. Now why would anyone want to hang out with a guy like that? The bigger issue for me is what this "hanging out" says about society and our priorities.

It is clear that those who fed Mbatha's ego did not pause to consider how he had amassed his wealth. If this question did cross their minds, they certainly did not seem to lose any sleep over it.

I find it unsettling that, apart from his victims, nobody condemned Mbatha vocally. The noise around him was always by praise singers, and he moved freely in his community, even though his crimes were known. It is this harbouring and adoration of criminals that scares me more than the criminal himself.

The reaction to him was a devastating indictment of a society that should be doing its best to counter crass materialism and foolishness.

If these are the people we admire, if these are the only role models we can offer our children, then the road ahead is treacherous.

One journalist related privately how, at one of his famous house parties, Mbatha threw money at the crowd amid loud screams and cheers. He would then challenge his admirers to line up again and grab as much money as they could. Disappointed that they could not keep up with the stash he was so generously throwing at them, he walked away, declaring: "I am too much for you."

The crowd went into a frenzy.

People like this often throw themselves onto the scene with much fanfare and theatrics. It is their outrageous and incorrigible behaviour that buys them that sought-after, fleeting moment of fame. Alas, their fall is just as dramatic.

I am sure the endemic poverty in our society creates fertile ground for this behaviour, where some are in a mad rush to make up for all that they lacked. But here we are not talking about a man who stole for survival. His cars, houses, nightclubs and a cafe were worth millions, and he still didn't have enough. He continued robbing people and terrorising his victims in the most sadistic fashion.

Those of us who find this behaviour intolerable, have a responsibility to teach young people that there is long-lasting glory in chasing our dreams without breaking the law. In our conduct, we must demonstrate that ambition and wealth-creation are possible without selling our souls. Our children need to know that the definition of success is not a bank balance made bigger by ill-gotten gains.

Mbatha was called a hero, a Robin Hood of sorts, yet his admirers merely waved at him as he began his lengthy jail term. We ought to be a tad stingy with our admiration of others. Mbatha is a thug and that's how he must be remembered.