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SACC Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said Sunday that the fight against corruption should also involve ending “the dependence of political parties and their leaders on donations from the rich and powerful.”
FILE: Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba. Image: @ ArchThaboAnglican / Facebook.com.
JOHANNESBURG – The South African Council of Churches (SACC) launched its anti-corruption campaign against the looting of COVID-19 funds on Sunday.
Its 36 member churches and organizations participated in the campaign to lament and protect the rights of citizens against COVID-19 corruption.
This comes amid growing outrage in the country over rampant corruption, especially related to tenders for personal protective equipment (PPE) amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking at the anti-corruption mass, SACC Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said that the fight against corruption should also involve ending “the dependence of political parties and their leaders on donations from the rich and powerful.”
“However, ending corruption in our land does not just mean bringing the corrupt to justice. But we must also end the dependence of political parties and their leaders on donations from the rich and powerful. This fundraising practice roots the crisis in the structures of political parties. So, we must reform the party financing system as a means to curb corruption, ”Makgoba said.
“I call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to put into effect legislation that regulates the financing of political parties,” he added.
Makgoba said looting government funds at the expense of the poor and vulnerable during a pandemic amounted to an act of genocide.
“It is as if the corrupt bigwigs, those who join the party just to get rich, have declared genocide against the poor. They are, like the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus called in the Gospel of Matthew, hypocrites, ”he said.
The archbishop called for an independent body to fight corruption and hold those in power accountable.
“We urgently need to transform our anti-corruption agencies by adding a Chapter 9 institution to combat corruption. We have seen too much interference with the investigative and prosecutorial arms of the government in the last two decades to rely solely on the executive to ensure justice, “he said.
LOOK: Launch of SACC’s anti-corruption campaign
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