Who killed Matshaya?

SIR — When yet another pre-eminent academic pens a poignant piece about our black hole of national corruption, I weep for the souls of our political leaders. Prof Njabulo Ndebele reflected over possible parallels between the recent tragic murder of a transport department’s internal auditor, Andile Matshaya, and votes at Mangaung.

He rightly questions how our transport minister can (correctly) pay tributes to bus accident victims, but give no public attention to this brutal strangulation of a dedicated husband, father and state employee, during forensic checks into departmental irregularities. Our sterling public finance warrior, auditor-general Terence Nombembe, said recently that “we have tried various models of capacitating local government and all of them have not worked because we’ve neglected the foundation of business, which is to employ the right people to do the right job”.

The private sector has long bemoaned cadre deployment, with associated nepotism, improper appointments and state employees’ conflicted private interests, but their insightful knowledge merely fuels emotive “ad hominems” and “elite capital” critiques.

Yet if a private hospital employed a nurse to perform brain surgery or a waitron led an accounting firm’s audit of a restaurant’s tax affairs, criminal charges would ensue.

In Mangaung, more than 90% of the African National Congress’s historical voters won’t be formally represented, as they are nonmembers. I don’t believe those delegates, as a voter minority, understand or speak for “vox populi” in terms of ethical, political leadership practice and state corruption.

I’d love to challenge the government in the Constitutional Court over cadre deployment, as there is now a massive burden of proof that this cabal’s practice greatly impairs our collective civic rights. Wish I had personal funds to sponsor this application — for our nation’s future wellness, and Andile Matshaya’s memory, because I’m confident we’d win. Sigh! Big sigh!