The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa Thabo Makgoba says it amounts to an act of genocide that politicians make money out of a pandemic like the coronavirus.
This comes amid growing outrage in South Africa at rampant corruption – especially linked to PPE tenders during the coronavirus pandemic.
Makgoba says the Anglican Church will join the South African Council of Churches’ (SACC) anti-corruption campaign, which will start at the end of August. Makgoba revealed this in his online ‘Week Day’ reflections.
On Friday last week, SACC Vice President Frank Chikane said all churches had been mobilised to fight corruption. Chikane said if the ANC government does not stop corruption – the people will stop it.
Archbishop Makgoba says corrupt politicians in South Africa are simply unacceptable.
“We are all too familiar with position thinking out convoluted reasoning to justify the unjustifiable, such as making money out of a pandemic. That reasoning and conduct are genocidal. And so we join the churches of the South Africa Council of Churches in the anti-corruption campaign starting from the 30th of August, to say to those corrupt leaders, you are more than hypocrites. Your conduct is under the watch of the society that seeks the mind of Christ and everything that they do.”
Cosatu says corruption and performance of current administration disappointing:
Earlier, the EFF urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to heed his own call and step down from public office until corruption allegations against him are resolved. The party was responding to Ramaphosa’s letter to ANC members on Sunday.
In the seven-page letter, Ramaphosa raised a number of issues and took a hard line on corruption. He urged members facing corruption allegations to insulate the ANC from reputational damage by stepping aside while their cases are being heard. EFF spokesperson Vuyani Pambo has dismissed the letter as nothing but cheap posturing.
The Congress of the People (COPE) called on the Justice and Police Ministers to establish an anti-corruption fighting unit similar to the disbanded Scorpions – to replace the Hawks. COPE says the Hawks is a toothless anti-corruption fighting unit. The party says there are many cases investigated by the Hawks that have dragged on for too long.
