Johannesburg - A community leader from Carletonville has told The Star that it will take more than a series of talk shops with faith-based organisations (FBOs) for the province to root out endemic corruption in the communities.
“I am not convinced that we are doing enough to tackle corruption as a country. For me, this was yet another talk shop that will not yield results if it is done as a PR exercise. I just hope the issue of corruption can be taken seriously because things are bad in this country,” said the community leader, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation.
He was talking on the sidelines of Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s engagements with FBOs at an event at Birchwood Hotel yesterday.
Lesufi, who delivered an address earlier in the day, said the country and province needed to consult various stakeholders in a bid to root out corruption, which was posing a serious threat to service delivery.
“We are confronted by serious problems in our society, especially in our province of Gauteng. High on the agenda is the issue of corruption, which is stealing from the poor. We are also seeing a rise in the number of children having children. If you go to our hospitals, you will be shocked to see under-14-year-olds giving birth, and even in our schools, you meet young girls that are expecting,” he said.
He also lamented the abundance of drunkards, with young people involved in alcohol, while drugs had turned the youth into zombies.
Lesufi said more than 600 young people had committed suicide in the past three months and urged faith-based organisations to combine all their efforts to fight the scourge of substance abuse.
“Even if this is business, this business must come to an end immediately and stop it because it’s just wiping a generation. I’m not exaggerating; there is no one who is not affected by this thing, directly or indirectly.”
Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, said the Gauteng government was serious about putting an end to corruption and wanted to engage deeply with FBOs, that should be regularly brought on board to deal with a range of social issues.
The Moral Regeneration Movement’s Gauteng convenor, Reverend Xolani Dlwathi, said the absence of ethical values meant faith-based organisations were sleeping on the job, adding that the principles of Ubuntu were central to ending corruption.
“Corruption promotes greed and promotes self-centredness. Corruption can only end when we begin to do something good over and over again over a period of time. The character of ethical leadership encourages one to continuously do the right thing,” he said.
The Star