At the close of the ANC’s national executive committee lekgotla this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa made an impassioned plea to party leaders to cease their conspicuous consumption which, he argued, partly caused the ANC’s alienation from the electorate, resulting in the party’s worst performance at the polls. One of Hogarth’s informants at the meeting tells him that, as McBuffalo spoke, he could see some comrades pushing their feet and arms under the table to hide their stylish Louis Vuitton loafers and Breitling watches. Hogarth hopes the comrades are embarrassed enough to start buying local...