LETTER: SA needs a new corrupt-free beginning
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The period of relative anxiety has eased off in communities compared to the start of the lockdown. Sadly, some folks feel free to go about their business as if our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic has ended. Such behaviour may increase cases of infection or reinfection for those who have recovered.
The government must enforce regulations in communities and public places to ensure it remains mandatory to wear a mask at all times. Otherwise, a lapse of compliance with health protocols could reverse the progress made thus far. Similarly, police minister Bheki Cele needs to caution the men and women in blue against a heavy-handed approach to law enforcement that violates the human rights of citizens.
Cele should ensure that deviant officers are held personally liable and dealt with accordingly — even if it means them losing their pensions for the settlement of damages resulting from brutality. This would serve as a deterrent for trigger-happy members of the police service.
A new beginning is a political imperative. There’s no denying that unethical leadership, procurement corruption and gender-based violence are the biggest hurdles to prosperity in society. Covid-19-related tenders exposed the rot in the government, which finds itself at the mercy of wolves in sheep’s clothing. The principle of “putting people first” has been abandoned by public officials and complicit tenderpreneurs, who are hell-bent on sucking the state dry.
The new dawn has been hijacked by insiders in an arrangement that sees cronies profit from government tenders at all costs. All of this presents a moment for a coherent reappraisal of the state of affairs to flush out what is rotten in the government so other pressing issues in society can be addressed.
Morgan Phaahla
Ekurhuleni
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to letters@businesslive.co.za (mailto:%20letters@businesslive.co.za). Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
The government must enforce regulations in communities and public places to ensure it remains mandatory to wear a mask at all times. Otherwise, a lapse of compliance with health protocols could reverse the progress made thus far. Similarly, police minister Bheki Cele needs to caution the men and women in blue against a heavy-handed approach to law enforcement that violates the human rights of citizens.
Cele should ensure that deviant officers are held personally liable and dealt with accordingly — even if it means them losing their pensions for the settlement of damages resulting from brutality. This would serve as a deterrent for trigger-happy members of the police service.
A new beginning is a political imperative. There’s no denying that unethical leadership, procurement corruption and gender-based violence are the biggest hurdles to prosperity in society. Covid-19-related tenders exposed the rot in the government, which finds itself at the mercy of wolves in sheep’s clothing. The principle of “putting people first” has been abandoned by public officials and complicit tenderpreneurs, who are hell-bent on sucking the state dry.
The new dawn has been hijacked by insiders in an arrangement that sees cronies profit from government tenders at all costs. All of this presents a moment for a coherent reappraisal of the state of affairs to flush out what is rotten in the government so other pressing issues in society can be addressed.
Morgan Phaahla
Ekurhuleni
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to letters@businesslive.co.za (mailto:%20letters@businesslive.co.za). Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.