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The Minister of Public Works in the National Assembly tabled a report that the Department which he manages, cannot account for an approximate R 35.9 billion that the department has spent over the last couple of years.
He is very quick to say that all of the money has not been lost due to fraud within the Department, but then state categorically of how many cases have been opened with the SAPS to prosecute individuals that were working for the department and that was responsible for the losses that have been incurred.
He categorically states that R 1, 2 billion was in actual fact defrauded by senior officials within the department, yet conspicuously not discloses what action has been taken against these individuals that had enriched themselves and or those close to them in the process.
We see how government within all of its departments are continuously not being able to account for monies, in actual fact taxpayers monies, are being spent, and or wasted and how individuals are being unlawfully enriched in the process.
Within the ambit of the private sector, a person whom has defrauded his employer, will be summarily dismissed and prosecuted, yet within government anyone that does the same, is suspended on full pay, until such time that he or she is prosecuted, which never seems to happen.
Buildings were being leased, procedural regulations in respect of procurements were being flaunted, and everything that could have been done incorrectly, actually was, and in the end individuals and or collective groups, benefitted, not by thousands, but in actual fact by billions illegally, unlawfully and irregularly.
Monies that could have been used to create employment, which is at the moment standing at a staggering 25% of the population, with unemployment amongst youths reaching 36%, is but some staggering aspects that could have been adequately and amicably addressed with the money that has now unlawfully enriched certain individuals.
When will this plundering of state coffers ever stop? My conclusion in the matter – never ever will it stop as the example that is set by the leader is exactly the opposite – take while the going is good, just be careful not to be caught, or alternatively exploit the legal system, to just never ever have to account for all your wrongdoings in a court of law.
If the leader leads in this way, how can we expect ground level staff not to do the same? If he can get away with it, why not us? And that is the million dollar question that we need to ask what is happening in our society, which was supposed to be a democracy for the benefit of all those that were previously and historically disadvantaged?
