Cape Town - Hypocrites and “thieves” in the ANC must return what they have stolen from the public and be sent to jail, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has told President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Makgoba made the call in a message recorded to support a new anti-corruption campaign launched by the SA Council of Churches (SACC), the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, the Foundation for Human Rights and the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution.
The entities jointly issued a “moral call” to all who live in South Africa to become vigilant and active citizens, and support the democratic project by rejecting corruption and unethical behaviour. This comes after several reports of corruption over Covid-19- related tenders by connected ANC cronies.
“Mr President, this is not only stealing. It is annihilating the very lives of the poorest, it is almost genocidal in effect,” said Makgoba.
“Corrupt bigwigs who have joined your party, not to serve the common good but to enrich themselves, act with impunity - their attitudes are debilitating, life-drenching. They are, like the scribes and Pharisees Jesus called out in Matthew’s Gospel, hypocrites,” said Makgoba.
“At this time in the history of our country, we must draw a line in the sand and say anew: Thus says the Lord, on whom our hope is founded, the hypocrites and the thieves must return the stolen treasures of the poor, and they must be dispatched to jail, where they must wear orange jumpsuits,” said Makgoba.
On Tuesday, a delegation made up of the seven organisations and led by Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, general secretary of the SACC, met officials from the ANC to call for societal action against Covid-19 corruption.
At the same time, the head of the South African Muslim Network (Samnet), Dr Faisal Suliman, issued “a call to action” on corruption.
“It is, regrettably, clear that the ANC is unwilling and/or incapable of self-correcting and taking the necessary action needed to halt its moral decay and stop itself from spiralling into an abyss of corruption and malfeasance. South Africans have had enough,” said Suliman.
Cape Argus