When I heard that nine Maritzburg College prefects had been involved in a urine-soaked initiation ritual I was shocked and disgusted: I simply cannot believe that prefects are still a thing.

For the sake of transparency, however, I should admit to you that I too was a prefect back in the day. And if I am to be entirely honest, I must also admit that it taught me some important lessons which I carry with me to this day, like that some people — usually those who are good at sport, jokes or convincing people they love Jesus — are inherently better than everyone else, which makes them the ideal people to lead the youth, or to put them in detention for wearing the wrong socks, which is pretty much the current definition of leadership in SA...