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LET EVERYONE RISE AGAINST CORRUPTION

26/01/2020 01:22:00 BY Alex Nxumalo

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We must listen to the concerns of our people without dismissing them. When people see something wrong, there is something wrong. When our people see corruption, it means there is corruption. When our people see that their resources are being stolen by certain people, it means it is happening, and we should listen...” - Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa.

Although the scourge of corruption in this country continues to run rampant and unabated, gradually, conspicuously and alarmingly taking firm root, as part of our national heritage, sadly, a myriad of our people are increasingly exhibiting signs of having long resigned themselves to the inevitable existence of this cancer. On the other hand, those of us who still have ethical blood running in our metabolism, must not - under any circumstances - allow this malignant cancer to go unchallenged. No!

possessions

If sanctimonious, virtuous or upright men remain silent in the face and onslaught of evil...it makes pathetic cowards of us. One famous political leader once said about corrupt people: “If corrupt people unite among themselves to constitute a force, then honest people must do the same...” This is a clarion call to all upright emaSwati: Let us all - from the smallest in status to the greatest - stand up against this evil behemoth.
Let us heed the advice of the often misused and abused slogans of ‘Indzaba yetfu sonkhe’ and ‘nawe uliphoyisa’ by those who deviously loot the country’s resources. We need to be vigilant and report all acts of corruption if we want to see this beautiful country developing forward - not backwards. Evil - in whatever form, shape or size it might present itself - of which corruption is one of its worst offshoots, has to and must be exposed, condemned, confronted, attacked and destroyed, lest it completely - like a malignant cancer - destroys and strips us all of whatever semblance of moral fibres left, as well as destroying our former, famous Swati dignity.
We need to ferociously unite together as one and stand up against this dastardly monster before it permanently destroys us all as individuals and as a nation, including the next generation.

As a country, we continue to subtly glorify corruption, looking the other way instead of taking action. We envy the so-called successes of the advocates and practitioners of corruption; such successes manifesting themselves in opulent, material possessions. We strive to emulate them and unwittingly fall into the trap of engaging in ungodly ways of hoarding wealth.

Efforts meant to eradicate this nefarious act are simply not enough, are lackadaisical, languid and perfunctory.
There is more talk and less action coming from the relevant echelons of power in addressing and taking action against this insidious cancer.
A week or so ago, the Times of Eswatini daily newspaper published an article, headlined ‘Teachers’ jobs-for-cash allegations at TSC’. It reported that, “the high number of graduates and lack of job opportunities has resulted in desperate teachers allegedly being made to pay for posts...’ This is preposterous and unbelievable!

Teachers, according to the article, are allegedly demanded to pay, as bribes, various amounts of large cash which range from a mouthwatering E3 000 to E5 000, in return for employment, temporary contract renewal, permanent transfers and promotions!

If true - and all indications are to the effect that it is - then, this is one of the vilest of acts, ever. Interviewed about these serious allegations of bribery, the Chairman of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), Simanga Mamba, concurred that he, according to the article, had personally received several complaints from some potential teachers, reporting that some officers in the ministry had demanded bribes and instructed some of them (teachers) to pay them through Mobile Money. In my opinion, he went on to put up a not-so-convincing reassurance (presumably doing damage control) contained in a memo issued, directed to members of the TSC Secretariat “who shall be implicated in any syndicate that they shall be dealt with in terms of the law...” Our expectations as a public which is “gatvol”, upset and tired of corruption in this country, are to the effect that the TSC Chairman should have put it in no uncertain terms that these allegations will be vigorously and with concerted determination, investigated and that any officer implicated, be dealt with according to the laws of the country.
punishment
My take is that - if I read the article correctly - those who have been engaging for years (it is an open secret that there is allegedly a lot of rot which has been taking place in the hiring of teachers) in this diabolical and inordinate act, should not go scot-free without being hauled before the law to account for their iniquity. I can bet you that they are living comfortable lives through ‘imali yetinyembeti’! The million Dollar question is: is that not condoning corruption? For Pete’s sake! A punishable by law crime has allegedly been committed here and someone has to be called to account! On second thought, our country is the only country this side of the equator which seemingly condones and rewards corruption. No wonder the act is performed so brazenly!
Just as South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is quoted as having said we opine and expect that not only shall the complaints be listened to but ACTION will be taken to bring those implicated, to book. Imploring those affected to merely report corruption to the Anti Corruption Commission, has proven in some past instances to be futile, for various reasons.
promotions
Chief among the reasons is lack of adequate resources like the ACC being understaffed...or cowering in fear of investigating those political heavyweights fingered. The alleged demanding of bribes from potential teachers raises the million Dollar question that ‘bayitsatsaphi lemali lengaka labantfwana bebantfu yeku diza’ because they are not yet employed? Those that are employed, why are they being allegedly demanded to part with a chunk of their salary when they seek transfers or promotions? It does not bode well for the TSC’s credibility that some teachers have allegedly been employed on contract basis for as long as seven years. One worrying factor about the difficulty in curbing corruption is that we - the public, not by design but as a result of desperation, DO promote corruption in one way or another. We fall into the fatal trap of offering both public and private sector employees ‘shukela, lisobho or money for cold drink’ if any public-serving officer can speed up the processing of a service we require, which legally should be offered free of charge.
Many a times, you and me cannot lie and say that we had never, during desperate moments in our lives, offered service provider personnel some form of ‘innocent sibongo’ which IS a bribe, in order, for instance, to jump the queue ahead of people we found already queuing, so that we can be served quickly; can we? Such petty, corrupt acts are rampant. Honest people in queues are overtaken, denied a deserved service, by those who are ‘connected’ or ‘loaded with cash’ who bribe their way in order to receive fast service.
legitimacy
We have many a times encountered officials in public serving offices who ask you with a straight face that, ‘utangibonga ngani?’ if he speedily processes your, say, documents. Because of the urgency of the situation, we give in and thus perpetuate this vile practice!
Remember, corrupt acts start small, gradually becoming bolder and eventually balloon into grand corruption. Some public service personnel have even bought cars or built opulent mansions, allegedly through illicit proceeds of corruption. Others have sent their offspring to prestigious schools in or outside the country through the unethical acts of corruption. Few, if any, public serving officials are immune from the tentacles of corruption. According to Wikipedia.org ‘more generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government if procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold’.