**TL;DR – Coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and championed by the late president Nelson Mandela, as well as, the people of South Africa, becoming a rainbow nation was the post-apartheid dream. However, the country has (now more than ever) been shaken by corruption. And while it should be noted that this corruption is more predominant within the government, it's only a matter of time before it spreads throughout the rest of the nation - and we become known mostly for our corruption scandals.** The dream of being (known as) a rainbow nation has lost some of its shine over the past two decades mostly due to corruption. The website dw.com confirms this when they report that South Africa currently ranks 73 out of 180 countries in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Nic Cheeseman, a professor of Democracy at the University of Birmingham, further confirms and elaborates on this, by informing us of the following: while the rainbow nation of South Africa was once seen as exceptional and having more in common with the developed states of Europe (in contrast with some of South Africa’s own countries), this is no longer the case. A specific example that he uses to provide evidence of this can be seen in the case of former president Jacob Zuma in which there was a, “…a series of destabilising corruption scandals, financial mismanagement and the incompetent leadership.” What’s more, he also says that it’s important for us to realize that this problem of corruption is actually a crisis. More specifically, it is a, “...crisis within the country’s ruling African National Congress (ANC)…” Interestingly, he mentions that one chief reason for this might be due to the fact that during the fight for freedom, the focus was on abolishing the apartheid regime. As a result, this is what kept, “....these patrimonial tendencies and criminal connections in check. But after the advent of democracy they started to become more pronounced.” Furthermore, Cheeseman also provides a very informative notion of how South African political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki views corruption, namely, as “legalized corruption.” Evidence of this can be seen in, for example, schemes such as the well-known Black Economic Empowerment. Apparently, these types of schemes, “…were used not transform the underlying structure of the economy, but to generate opportunities for self-enrichment.” The website dw.com agrees with this when it very clearly tells us that while this scheme was meant to offer the same economic opportunities to formerly disadvantaged South Africans, it has instead created new inequalities. I think that the biggest mistake we have made both as individuals and as a nation is to naively (continue) believing that people, attitudes and behaviors would change overnight. We've overlooked the possibility that the making of a rainbow nation goes much deeper than just abolishing apartheid - as corruption was already present back then, but just not as prevalent. Consequently, I feel that we need to have meaningful reforms in place so that the same patterns (of corruption) do not repeat itself and spread. Otherwise, South Africa will ultimately be known as a corrupt nation and not a rainbow nation. Sources: 1) South Africa: From the ashes of apartheid https://www.dw.com/en/south-africa-from-the-ashes-of-apartheid/a-48462055 [accessed February 28, 2021]. 2) How world sees SA: 'Another one-party African state, led by corrupt dictator and his friends' https://www.biznews.com/global-investing/2017/04/10/sa-african-state-corrupt-dictator [accessed February 28, 2021].