Selfless, competent leaders needed

VIRTUALLY every day news stories are about the level of corruption that has devoured our country, with no end in sight.

Corruption in our country has reached all levels of our society and is a behavioural consequence of power and greed. With no rule book, corruption is covert, opportunistic, repetitive and powerful, reliant upon dominance and fear within unwritten and unspoken codes.

The basic inception of corruption started with our political leaders who have already done greater damage to our nation.

Whether one accepts the fact or not that politicians and senior civil servants are responsible for the spate of corruption or for the downfall of prosperity in our country, the glaring evidence is there for posterity to judge us. Corruption knows no political party boundaries. You see it in every sphere of our society. The news media on a daily basis unmasks blatant corruption that has enveloped all of our nine provinces.

Fervent adherence to unbridled greed by the political leadership has created graft in all levels of society. This has enabled corruption to germinate, fester and proliferate.

History attests that pervasive corruption is oppressive of the masses and if left unchecked will certainly lead to anarchy.

As long as there is pervasive corruption, millions of South Africans will be condemned to agonising poverty and as long as the masses continue to suffer, our democracy will remain fragile.

It is an incontrovertible fact that all forms of corruption are prevalent in South Africa.

Irrespective of the type of corruption, the act involves subjective misuse of power, which is both bad and illegal.

We need selfless, competent leaders to totally eradicate corruption. Hopefully the government will carry out its mandate to create a better South Africa.

FAROUK ARAIE | Benoni