Corruption is our greatest enemy since the dawn of democracy

WE celebrated Freedom Day – a day many of our heroes and heroines sacrificed their lives for so that we could be freed from the bondages of apartheid.

But Freedom Day reminded us how far we still have to go to achieve meaningful freedom from poverty. True freedom means lifting millions more South Africans out of poverty through the dignity of a job.

Our greatest enemy since the dawn of democracy is corruption. Corruption is not a victimless crime. Its victims are each and every man, woman and child whose dreams of a better life have been deferred, over and over again, because their so-called leaders can’t keep their hands off public money. Greed is the enemy of freedom. The bigger the greed of the ruling elite, the more unattainable the dream of freedom becomes. Many of the members of the ANC consider the ongoing looting of the state resources as their legitimate reward for fighting for our freedom.

There can be no true freedom for South Africans when 30 million of our citizens are imprisoned by the chains of poverty, 42% of our population is unemployed, and thousands of our children die from hunger and malnutrition every year.

We need to reconnect with our forgotten communities whose hopes and dreams of freedom have been dashed by an uncaring and corrupt ANC government.

As a leader, I pledge to work towards ending poverty across all corners of our country to usher in the freedom that millions of South Africans fought so hard to achieve.

Thanks to the DA-led City of Cape Town for improving dignity in the city by investing in new sanitation infrastructure, especially in the poorest communities. They are making Cape Town safer, in the most violent parts of the city, by delivering hundreds more law enforcement officers and the latest crime-fighting technology. They are working to end load-shedding, which will boost our city’s economy and get more people into work. And will deliver more affordable housing for all Capetonians.

In all of this, they are making freedom more meaningful to people in their everyday lives.

THULANI DASA | Khayelitsha