Friday, August 12, 2011

Act on toilet saga instead of making flushing sounds

The headline "Tokyo out for blood over toilets for sale" on July 13 required action on the part of Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale.

One still has to see whether his angry reaction to the situation is just ANC embarrassment, or party commitment to eradicate corruption.

Why the sudden burst of outrage?

Corruption is such a well-known feature of this government's projects that enables the well-connected and powerful to cream off their share.

Sexwale must now prove his commitment to fighting corruption by ensuring that the guilty are dealt with severely, not "redeployed".

It is to this country's great financial loss that there is massive hypocrisy within the ruling party, because it does not deal decisively with its crooked but loyal cadres.

The people in the lower rung simply watch and copy those at the higher level.

They observe how their seniors get away with perhaps more subtle corruption practices.

Even worse, they witness how the ruling party's funds benefit from "commissions" from those who are awarded large state contracts.

While this practice continues, the ANC and the government will never win against the entrenched and spreading corruption within its ranks.

Note how the government covered up the arms deal scandal and how any investigation into a prominent ANC cadre is drawn out and is usually swept under the carpet.

The latest trend in the ANC is for leading figures to make politically appropriate sounds about fighting corruption.

If Sexwale wants to convince us of his deep commitment to fight corruption, let him now campaign openly to stop the practice of redeploying corrupt persons into other jobs.

What about Sexwale supporting an unfettered inquiry (without intimidation) into the arms deal scandal and that of the SAPS headquarters deal, for a start?

Then we may begin to believe there is still some integrity in the cabinet, and that they are not just a bunch of ja broers, as is observed in the arms deal scandal.

- timeslive

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