Remember a time, long, long ago, when members of the “leader of society” used to avoid campaigning for positions but waited to be deployed, and gladly served where they were sent?

Times have changed. Campaigning - as well as the attendant fundraising - is now “common and accepted practice”, and the governing party is considering formulating campaign guidelines. This is long, long overdue - after more than a century of existence and 25 years in power.

Some have complained that the so-called #RamaphosaLeaks were designed to besmirch the president’s good name.

Others have argued the CR17 team had planned to run a “clean campaign” but (bizarrely in my view) opted not to jot down the minutes of their meetings or put their plans on paper.

For somebody like me who carries a list whenever I go grocery shopping - something I do more often than my lovely wife - some people have some explaining to do.

We are talking here about hundreds of millions of rand, not shop-and-run grocery budgets.

Well, let’s not aid and abet all those who are hell-bent on distracting the president from his humongous job at hand.

It was war out there in the run-up to Nasrec, and precious things were bound to be trampled upon.

But the emails are hard to dismiss, ignore or explain away.

Let’s hope everyone learns from the experience and someone quickly jots down guidelines for future contests. No-rules fights are bad for both losers and winners.

The Independent on Saturday