When I accepted the challenge, as leader of an opposition party, to take responsibility for a national government department said to be riddled with corruption I knew there would be people in the department who would see my appointment as a threat.
In particular, I expected those with the most to hide to use every trick in the book to undermine whatever cleansing processes I introduced.
Their tactics to deflect attention from the serious allegations of corruption they face by throwing stones at me, therefore, come as no surprise.
Nor is it surprising that their tactics have fooled the party of blue liars to start yapping again. They just can’t get over the fact that I exposed their dishonesty and false promises to people of colour in Cape Town – even if it requires them to jump into bed with those who are trying to cover-up corruption and state capture. Vooitog!
The liegbekke must tread carefully. The courts have already warned them to stop lying about me – four times. Besides which, supporting the agenda of the corrupt demonstrates their political immaturity.
I will not be the jam in a sandwich of ruling party factionalism and blue liars. Nor will I be tripped up by technicalities or fall into their traps.
It's very simple. The corrupt must answer for their actions – be it with respect to the fence at Beit Bridge, the over-spending on state funerals, or the illegal appointments of senior officials. Whatever misspent or stolen money is recoverable must be returned to the fiscus.
Put criminals in jail, not in government.
As for me, I believe Ministers should be held to the highest levels of scrutiny and account. The integrity of government depends on it. Thoroughly investigating allegations of wrongdoing achieve two things: It exposes guilty parties while reinforcing the integrity of the innocent.
Much of the South African corruption narrative over the past several years has focussed on the national government and state-owned entities. But with a series of by-elections this month, and next year's municipal elections now looming on the horizon, there will be an increasing focus on local service delivery and community issues.
We were pleased with the recent announcement by the Office of the Public Protector that it is investigating allegations of corruption submitted by GOOD in respect of the liegbek-led George, Cape Town and Oudtshoorn municipalities.
In Saldanha Bay, the police are investigating cases relating to the manipulation of EPWP jobs and the theft of confiscated cigarettes and liquor in the care of the municipality. Here too it is GOOD people who played a leading role in vlekking open the corruption.
We are very proud of our candidates contesting by-elections in November. They are people of calibre who are not in it for jobs. They are standing because they are passionate about their communities – not to make up numbers while, in the secrecy of their caucuses, supporting blue baaskap. On my recent visit to George, we pledged to revamp a senior citizens home that suffered years of neglect. Our activists came out and pledged to repaint the home and immediately did so with remarkable results to restore the dignity to how our seniors live. We also discovered that many residents in George like in other communities needed help with title deeds. Our activists, volunteers and candidates are now assisting these residents.
With my colleagues, I will continue to expose corruption. I’ve been doing it since I joined the trade union movement in the darkest apartheid days. I’ve been doing it since becoming a member of the first democratic parliament. It’s what GOOD people do.
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