Former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka wants action on those behind the looting of Covid-19 funds.
She said if there were no consequences then people would not fear the law.
The United Nations Women executive director was on Friday speaking on SAFM when she raised the issue.
She called on the justice system to be tightened to deal with corruption.
“If there are no consequences for this, people have no reason to fear the law. We are actually mobilising to get these monies back as it is not just punishing people but is also about making sure that something is recouped so that it can be repurpose and used to serve the people it was always meant to serve,” said Mlambo-Ngcuka.
She added that whistleblowers were more needed.
She said the money that had been stolen from the government and state owned enterprises should have been better used in supporting small businesses who have been damaged by Covid-19 pandemic.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said those behind the looting were people with university degrees.
She always asked herself what was wrong with people who have university degrees.
“What are we doing wrong in education that makes people graduate without a social conscience that tells them that ‘because you are one of the few educated, you have a responsibility to be your brother’s keeper, but they are the one who steal more than anyone else, and it is really a sad picture,” she said.
Mlambo -Ngcuka said they should be more caring instead of stealing from the poor as they “have first hand experience of what poverty looks like.”
“They also know how much the resources that are being invested fighting poverty to make a difference in the life of the poor people.
“To then steal from those people, and from the government and reduce the capacity for the government to do more things for poor people is really unforgivable,” she said.
About the effort to fight Covid-19 spread, Mlambo-Ngcuka said the government and people had done their best in dealing with the new pandemic.
“I think that there is nobody who has a playbook on how to respond to this pandemic because the closest thing that the world has seen that is as horrific as this pandemic happened 100 years ago.
“Yes we have lost a lot of life in South Africa, and every life matters, but I truly believed that if we did not lockdown we would be in a worse situation,” said Mlambo-Ngcuka.
She also commended the majority of the country’s society of adhering to the lockdown regulations.
“We are lucky that in South Africa wearing a mask is not a political statement.
“We have even seen people begging on the street wearing a mask. People who have nothing but they care about their health and for protecting other people,” she said.
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