LETTER - Corruption wears many faces in South Africa. It’s the bane of our moral compass and our country’s economy.
Just when we think we’ve seen it all, another rears its ugly head.
Now the mighty accounting or audit firm KPMG (Karma Pleases Minister Gordhan) is the talk of the town.
But perhaps the worst of it all, is when there is even a sniff of financial impropriety that takes places on holy ground (literally) - at our Hindu temples.
Which Hindu has performed a prayer ritual where a coconut has not been cleaned or where the cleaned coconut has not been broken during the prayer?
My daughter purchased prayer items from the prayer shop at a Durban temple. She was told by the shop assistant, “Do not clean or break the coconut. Do not open the packaged sari. Do not open the packaging with a mirror, comb, etc. (prayer for a newborn)”.
She found this absurd and did not comply.
The coconut was cleaned but the priest did not break it during the prayer.
The prayer shop sells both cleaned and uncleaned coconuts. What inferences does one draw from such anti-Hindu practice?
The temple manager was aggressive, angry, and arrogant when an explanation was telephonically sought. The chairperson failed to respond to written correspondence in this regard.
My advice to worshippers at this temple: pray with your heart but keep your head in check.
Be guarded. Do not compromise your Hindu faith by yielding to anti-Hindu practices. A priest is human. He is not God.
Do not remain silent in the face of corruption (or even a hint of it!). Your silence will tantamount to complicity.
Good luck and God bless.