WHAT is happening in South Africa is downright scary not to mention crazy. No matter how infuriated the South Africans might be, there is no logical reason for them to go out and destroy their hard earned economy like they are doing now.

Their excuse is the incarceration of their former president Jacob Zuma, who is accused of a litany of charges, including fraud, money laundering, theft and racketeering, among others.

But he flatly refused to obey a direct order from the highest court in the land, the Constitution Court – to appear before the Zondo Commission of Enquiry.

The court consequently sentenced him to a 15-month imprisonment for contempt of court.

The man the South Africans have gone to war with themselves for, is indeed a troubled old bloke with a checkered past.

Yes, he might have been a celebrated political figure at the prime of his life. He was jailed for a decade for opposing the oppressive apartheid regime in South Africa, before he was exiled to later turn into a spy boss of the then banned ANC movement.

Upon his return to South Africa in 1990, he hastily rose to prominence until he became president in 2009.

But he simply could not stay out of trouble.

First, he was accused of rape to be later acquitted in a trial that made the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Throughout his presidency, he was involved in scandal after scandal until he formed an alliance with the notorious Gupta brothers who today face charges of looting the country billions of rand/maloti, allegedly with Zuma’s assistance.

This is the same man that South Africans are torching their country for and risking their lives for his reprieve.

Theirs before it went up in flames after Zuma’s apprehension last week was perhaps the most lucrative economy on the African continent.

Impoverished and marginalised countries like Lesotho rely entirely on the bigger and the more stable SA economy.

But now that the residents of this powerful and prosperous country have finally brought it to its knees through torching and looting its businesses and properties from Durban to Gauteng, it remains to be seen what will happen to its relatively poor neighbours, including Lesotho.