Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter and Treasury's Ismail Momoniat received the inaugural Kathy Award for courage and service.
!['We have to take responsibility for mess-ups and corruption in SA' - Momoniat [VIDEO]](https://media.citizen.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Kathrada-Foundation.jpeg)
Official in the National Treasury, Ismail Momoniat, has painted a bleak picture of the corruption that has marred South Africa since the dawn of freedom from the apartheid regime.
Momoniat made the remarks at the Ahmed Kathrada Annual Banquet at the Sandton Convention Centre on Saturday evening.
Awards
Hundreds of guests attended the event to celebrate the life of Kathrada, fondly known as Kathy.
Momoniat and South African Revenue Services (Sars) commissioner Edward Kieswetter received the inaugural Kathy Award for exemplifying two key words that describe Ahmed Kathrada: courage and service.
Executive Director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation Neeshan Balton said Momoniat and Kieswetter has displayed these traits.
“Courage to do the right things all the time, every time, every day, irrespective of who it might offend or who it might benefit. Service, without the expectation of reward.”
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‘Mess-ups’
Momoniat said South Africans should put the country and its people first.
“We should all be there to serve the country and its people. Of course, more than that, those of us who worked to free the country, we have to take responsibility for the mess-up we did and the corruption that you see.”
Corruption
Momoniat stressed the perception people have of the government and its ability to deliver services in the country.
“What are we doing about the fight against corruption. Corruption is really important to deal with, because every attempt by the state to deliver, whether it is to get rid of pit latrine toilets, or to deliver on education, or Tembisa Hospital to deliver services, at the moment, the corruption that we have is on a mega scale to the point where government is unable to deliver,” Momoniat said.
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Activist
Quoting Vladimir Lenin, Momoniat said the Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist said the spontaneity of the masses will not bring about change.
“If we take the spontaneous approach in fighting corruption and thinking the system will sort it out, we are mistaken. Organised crime while looting our procurement system, that includes our politicians. Corruption doesn’t happen because politicians are fighting it, it’s either they are too passive or they are actively involved.
“Unless we have an activist approach and not a spontaneous approach to fighting corruption, you will not defeat it,” Momoniat said.
Ethical leadership
Kieswetter said late freedom fighter Ahmed Kathrada believed in ethical leadership and lived a life not defined by power, but by purpose.
Kieswetter said Kathy lived a life defined not by privilege, but by principle.
“Leadership is not noise. It requires courage, the courage to speak truth in difficult roles, to choose integrity where compromise is easy and to continue serving even when the work is exhausting.”
Responsibility
Balton said South Africans need to build a capacity in society to deal with corruption wherever it happens.
“It requires every one of us in our day-to-day lives, in our families, in our streets, to do all that we can to demand accountability and transparency on everything that is possible.”
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation called on supporters to make a pledge to help us advance the values, ideals, and activism that defined Ahmed Kathrada’s life.
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