Expropriate the assets of VBS crooks

The VBS scandal exposed anomalies at the local government level, including gross dereliction of fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the country. To the casual observer, the municipal public accounts committees were sleeping on the job when mayors and municipal managers signed off funds for service delivery to be invested in a mutual bank without obtaining authorisation or specialised advice in line with the legislation.

These investments are illegal and ignore the requirements for risk management. It’s not surprising that a whole lot of municipalities constantly receive adverse audit reports. This calls for strengthening of financial management and oversight capacity, with action taken against corrupt practices. The law-enforcement agencies should act swiftly on the strength of prima facie evidence of the parasitic relationship between organised crime and the state and pursue those fingered in VBS’s “great bank heist”.

We can only pin our hopes on the Hawks to build a watertight case for the freezing of all proceeds derived from this callous looting. The assets of those found guilty should be expropriated to recover losses.

Had the Public Investment Corp (PIC) not been conflicted, a determination would have been made for the interim takeover of VBS and the warehousing of the equity of the alleged wrongdoers with a view to preserving the business model until there was finality on the matter. Of course, this would be subject to due diligence and a bailout by the South African Reserve Bank, with the PIC carrying risks to rescue VBS and save jobs. Morgan Phaahla, Ekurhuleni

ANC also not ready to govern

Your correspondent Tom Mhlanga may be correct when he asserts that the DA is not yet ready to govern. But he also cannot claim the ANC is ready to govern, despite its 1992 pamphlet Ready to Govern.

It has been more than 24 years since the ANC occupied government desks but look at the litany of misgovernance incidents. Misgovernance is the norm.

The ANC has simply continued the tradition of corruption first begun by the National Party. But the ANC perfected it into a sharply honed programme of aloota-continua.

Or has Mhlanga not realised that since the Jacob Zuma era hundreds of billions of rands of taxpayers’ funds have been looted and diverted by the comrades and their cronies?

Yes, the DA has a penchant for committing hara-kiri by, among other things, failing to distinguish between members of the fifth column and genuine ideological members.

But the DA, despite its ineptitude, is more sinned against than sinning, which is nothing compared to what the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, in reference to the US, once termed the Great Satan.

Yes, the DA, with all its incompetence, is a saint, compared to the great satan, the ANC, with all its virtues.

Themba Sono, Centurion

The last straw

The plastic straw has become a symbol of our “throw-away” culture in recent years. Over 550-million plastic straws are thrown away every day globally! Why do we choose to use a destructive item that greatly impacts the planet, on purpose?

Plastic will overtake the amount of fish in the ocean by 2050.

Plastic is not biodegradable, and most straws end up in landfills. Many plastic straws even contain toxic chemicals that may harm our health. The average person goes through approximately 38,000 straws in their lifetime. How wasteful can our society be? We need to be more conscious about what we use to drink our beverage as plastic straws do great harm to our planet.

The demand for plastic straws has increased hand in hand with the demand for cooldrinks.

Not only are we increasing the risk of health-related diseases, but we are killing our planet in the process. We should say “no” to straws and rather sip straight from the can or use recyclable straws to help save our planet.

I suggest that we look at the impact of plastic straws on the Earth and find an alternative to this destroyer of nature. Tasmiya Sacoor, Umhlanga

Zille should lead

I regret that I found it necessary to write this letter. All democracies deserve an opposition party that offers an alternative strong government. Putting colour aside, the person to be leading our official opposition party is none other than the very capable Helen Zille. Now those wishing to attack me because I have suggested a so-called white person, relax: colour does not come into my argument. Nor should you go down this road. We seek only the best to govern us.

Howard Joffe, Camps Bay

Excellent report

The report on this match “Day of high drama” (October 28) refers. I would like to commend Craig Ray for an excellent report.

It is one of the most accurate and wellwritten reports on a rugby match that I have seen for a long time.

Compared to the vitriolic rumour-based hogwash that comes from your reporter Telford Vice, which I swore never again to look at many years ago, this was refreshing and gives me hope again to look forward to a high standard of reporting.

Keep it up, and give that man a Bells! In a sea of dismal discredited reportage, this stands out as a beacon of hope. Thank you. M Lewis, White River, Mpumalanga

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