Mr President, you are correct… the ANC should dip its head in shame

South Africans are fed up with corruption. Countless reports of graft, with a new wave of dodgy Covid-19 tenders, in particular, has angered the public.

What makes it worse is that nothing is being done to punish those linked to corruption. With this in mind, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s latest remarks that the ruling party should “dip our heads in shame” due to corruption won’t impress many people.

We’ve heard it before. Actions speak louder than words, so until those caught stealing are brought to book, we won’t pay much attention to the president.

In a letter sent to ANC members yesterday, he said: “These developments cause us collectively to dip our heads in shame and humble ourselves before the people.

“The NEC had a clear mandate from the 54th national conference to deal decisively with corruption and to restore the integrity and values of the ANC.

“This is a responsibility we cannot defer, outsource or avoid.

“Our deeds must, always, match our words. We cannot, as the ANC, rightfully call ourselves leaders of society if we fail to lead the people in eradicating corruption from our own ranks. Let this be a turning point in our fight against corruption.”

Mr President, you are correct… the ANC should dip its head in shame. Until strong action is taken against those that break the law and transgressors are put behind bars, those sentiments won’t change.

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