ONKGOPOTSE JJ TABANE: We are finally plumbing the depths of government's corruption depravity
'It is hard to find a minister or MEC who does not have a proxy somewhere helping them to steal'
EXTRACT
It's actually sickening, because people who attempt to do business with the government in an honest manner are caught in this crossfire, where they have to pay somebody who has nothing to do with the business. When you complain about this, you become the subject of ridicule.
It is hard to find a minister or MEC who does not have a proxy somewhere helping them to steal. What the commission will do is expose a few of these dishonest politicians and officials - and society has to teach them a lesson, knowing that they are the tip of the iceberg.
This past week has not shocked SA, despite the horrific tales told by witnesses at the state capture commission of inquiry. We have become numb to the revelations because so many of us have always known of the extent of the rot but were too afraid to come forward and expose the wrongdoers. Doing wrong, especially when it comes to the theft of public funds, has become the way to conduct business in SA's body politic. The lecture by the acting chief procurement officer at the commission was therefore necessary - to remind all of us of how things ought to be done as opposed to how they are done. The anatomy of corruption in SA is very simple: people in high positions, including cabinet members, MECs and councillors, are politicians by day and business people by night, with their fingers in the cookie jar through proxies. They collude with corrupters in the private sector who aid the theft. It's actually sickening, because people who attempt to do business with the government in an hone...
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