On October 23, 2015, Mcebisi Jonas, South Africa's deputy finance minister, faced a harrowing, yet enticing, decision.
He had thought he was attending a normal business meeting but ended up in the home of the powerful Gupta family, sitting with the Gupta brothers and the president, Jacob Zuma's, son.
Jonas was offered a promotion and $45 million.
In return, he would be expected to use his position to advance the Gupta's many business interests.
This included firing officials who opposed the construction of new power plants, which were slated to run on fuel from Gupta-owned mines.
The deal was simple— but would Jonas accept?
This kind of corruption in politics is nothing new.
It plagued the ancient world— the "Arthasastra, " an Indian political treatise that dates back to the 3rd century BCE, lists 40 types of embezzlement alone.
So, what exactly is corruption, and what can we do to combat it?
Corruption is often defined as a misuse of a position of power for personal gain.
