Society is confronted by a multitude of serious global crises. These include regional wars, revolutions, increasing anti-Semitism and Islamism, unprecedented fires, floods and famine, diminishing natural resources, nuclear proliferation and rising geo-political tensions, reminiscent of the worst days of the Cold War.
Domestically, most South Africans are understandably far more focused on their own daily struggles to make ends meet, find homes and jobs, get a decent education, adequate health care, clean water and so on, and escape the gangs and criminals that roam our streets. These issues are of much greater and immediate concern to them than global disruptions and disasters.
There is however another growing crisis in our society that does demand the intense attention of and urgent action from all South Africans and that is the unacceptable level of concealed and uncontrolled corruption within government circles.
When contemplating both patent and latent governmental corruption, the terms “Pandora’s box”, “skeletons in the cupboard”, “dark clouds of suspicion”, “swept under the carpet” and “turn a blind eye” come to mind.
Somehow, somewhere, somebody needs to expose the details of the President’s cash-in-the-couch saga, Mashatile’s seemingly dubious family-related financial dealings, McKenzie’s Sandton dinner funds, Simelane, Malema and Shivambu’s VBS connections, the Zuma arms deal saga, the countless allegations against SOE officials, Zizi Kodwa and so many other dropped corruption-related legal cases, Magashule and his mates’ alleged theft and looting activities, the motives around Nkabane’s SETA shenanigans, and so on and so forth!
These are but a few examples of alleged deception and dishonesty that permeate our society, and the only way to beat corruption and halt its haemorrhaging impact on our economy is to expose it.
If the GNU, political parties, the press and the prosecutorial authorities continue to gloss over and fail to fully unravel and expose blatant or concealed acts of corruption, to open Pandora’s box, reveal the skeletons, blow away the dark clouds, lift up the carpet and restore sight to that blind eye, it will be up to civil society and the people in the street do to the job. Nothing less than the total truth and full transparency should be demanded and given.
David Gant
Kenilworth