The recent revelations concerning the extravagant use of expensive motorcars by South African government ministers, put me in mind of a story that is recounted of Willem Drees, the post-war prime minister of the Netherlands.

The recent revelations concerning the extravagant use of expensive motorcars by South African government ministers, put me in mind of a story that is recounted of Willem Drees, the post-war prime minister of the Netherlands.

At the time of the introduction of the Marshal Aid Plan by the US, to assist Europe in recovering from the effects of World War II, the US ambassador to the Netherlands was asked by Washington to call on the Dutch prime minister to ensure that US aid would not be wasted.

The Dutch prime minister at that time had no official residence, so the ambassador went to the simple terraced house in which Mr Drees lived. The ambassador got out of his car, …