South Africa - Cape Town - 10 June 2022 - President Ramaphosa replies to Budget Vote (Vote) of the Sixth Administration to the National Assembly in Cape Town.photograph : Phando Jikelo/African News Agency(ANA)
At the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa blustered on about the crushing effects of corruption on our country and democracy.
Yet he found solace and encouraged South Africans to do the same, firmly believing that the fight against corruption was gaining momentum and that further measures would be put in place to prevent corruption or capture.
“Corruption has wounded our democracy and shaken people's faith in our institutions. If corruption is not arrested, the greatest damage will not be in the funds stolen, the jobs lost, or the services not delivered. The greatest damage will be to the belief in democracy itself,” he said.
But the sentiments of his speech rung hollow as a fresh scandal broke.
Businessman Mthunzi Mdwaba dropped bombshell allegations involving three ministers who attempted to seek a bribe of R500 million from him.
And if that wasn't enough, as the suspects who allegedly stole money from the president's Phala Phala property were in court, the actual amount that was stashed in his couch was again under scrutiny.
The law shouldn't offer anyone special treatment, and that includes
Ramaphosa.
For now, state institutions may have let him off the hook for concealed cash and potential tax evasion.
South African citizens have grown tired of unkept promises, being fleeced and the slow pace of justice.
But the truth has its own peculiar way of revealing itself.
Ramaphosa was willing to fall on his sword in December. Perhaps he should dust off his resignation letter penned last December when the Phala Phala scandal engulfed him.
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