Corruption – our biggest challenge

‘Anti-Corruption Voter’ writes:-IT IS that time in a democracy. It is that time when the politicians want our vote. They don’t give a damn
about us between elections, but in the run-up to an election they come out of the woodwork and pretend to care
about the ordinary man and woman in the street.
In part I understand this. I mean, I don’t vote for someone so that he or she can spend the next four years
waltzing around the country. I vote for that person to be an effective member of parliament, who turns up for debates, does not sleep in the afternoons after a heavy lunch, who will oppose legislation that is not in
my interest, whether in the short or long term, who will lobby for legislation that will benefi t the citizens of South Africa, who will vigorously fight our biggest problem, corruption, which is bigger than Aids, bigger than unemployment, and which will ultimately and truly turn this country into a Banana Republic.
Currently, in the run-up to the election, there is an anti-corruption move, but after the election, believe me, the whole movement will fade away as the politicians go back to the trough with their grubby little trotters to feed again their greed with corruption.
And the thing is, no strong stand dare they take against the corrupt because the person they sacrifice, so as
to be seen to be doing something, will turn on them and let the cat out the bag regarding everyone else’s corruption.
It’s a web of corruption, all connected one way or another. If one falls, they all fall.
I don’t know what the answer is. Once someone is corrupted they will protect their position a) because they
don’t want to face the consequences, and b) because they have gotten used to a certain lifestyle that their corruption has made possible – Johnnie Walker Black and a fancy BMW. They will fi ght to protect that, and
the fight will be dirty, perhaps even mortal.
But the future of this country depends on the manner in which corruption is fought. It must be fearlessly
and absolutely no one must be immune. That’s who I’d vote for – a champion against corruption.