Daily Dispatch

Focus on theft that hurts poor

CORRUPTION has often been referred to as a cancer of the body politic, but seldom has the devastating effect of this cancer been as visible as in Mnquma local municipality.

As the cases are prised open by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known more commonly as the Hawks, the real impact of corruption can be seen clearly.

All too often corruption that is exposed simply gives amounts of money involved, without relation to the effect it has on the lives of ordinary people.

It becomes like a white-collar crime where the victims are either unknown or large corporates who can afford the pain.

Yet compare the national reaction to the exposure of rand value manipulations by large banks with the thefts of millions of rands from government departments.

Almost unanimously politicians across the board loudly cry foul against the banks, demanding the harshest possible punishments and even that they be “nationalised”.

In contrast there has been barely a whimper about the grand thefts from Mnquma, one of the poorest and most underdeveloped municipalities in the country.

Paradoxically, the rand manipulations, while making millions for those who corrupted the trading system, had no effect on the overall value of the rand and no impact on the lives of ordinary citizens.

What the corrupt traders were doing were manipulating thousandths of a rand between buy and sell values, and earning their illgotten gains based on the volumes of the transactions. The victims were those buying and selling rands, not the public in general. Mnquma is very different. Ordinary citizens in the municipal area go without basic necessities like water and electricity. Job opportunities are woefully lacking and roads off the major thoroughfares are often little more than dirt tracks. Health services are also stretched to the limit.

Yet we are learning how some in the municipality either squandered, misspent or outright stole millions of rands.

We learn about R10-million spent on black rubbish bags at an average unit price 10 times the normal cost in a retail store – where the markup is probably close to, or more than, double the actual cost.

We learn about R1-million spent on catering within six months and another R1-million on hiring vehicles.

The municipal manager even bought a massive office desk worth R56 675.

This is all far more outrageous and hurtful than rand trading manipulations because it involves money that could, and should, be spent on improving the lives of citizens being spent frivolously and often corruptly.

Full marks to the Hawks for getting tough on this kind of corruption, not only in Mnquma but in other poverty-stricken municipalities where officials and councillors evidently think public funds are for their private benefit.

These are cases of corruption that directly impact on the daily lives of often the most vulnerable people in our county.

This is where the greatest political focus is needed, and where the harshest punishments need to be served up.