'We refuse to allow corruption to destroy SA' - SACC, civil society organisations

The South African Council of Churches (SACC), Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, the Foundation for Human Rights, CASAC, and the Nelson Mandela Foundation have issued a strongly worded statement condemning corruption. 

This amid increasing allegations of corruption relating to Covid-19 procurement processes that have also rocked the governing ANC. 

In the statement, the organisations say they will not allow corruption to destroy South Africa. 

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"There comes a time when the moral depravity of some in positions of authority, and in the private sector, undermine the very notion of nationhood and the underlying value of public service," they say. 

"After years of state capture and unethical governance, and more recently, largescale looting of Covid-19 emergency funding, that time is upon us. We are compelled to assert: This is not how we shall be known as a nation. We refuse to allow corrupt networks in different provinces to go about their criminal activity, trampling on the rights of honest and law-abiding people!"

On Friday, Gauteng Premier David Makhura confirmed that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) had identified two officials in the provincial Health Department who allegedly enabled corruption linked to personal protective equipment.

Earlier in the week, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni met with the various provincial finance MEC's to discuss the allegations of corruption link to contracts and tenders for the provision of personal protective equipment.

The SACC and civil rights organisations have called on South Africans to act against corruption and sign a pledge to that effect. 

"The state cannot tell us that they did not know that the ‘predators’ were waiting to ‘eat’ early on in the pandemic," they insist.