SACP statement on the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Ministerial Team

19 November 2009

The SACP has noted and welcomes the establishment of the Ministerial anti-corruption team to take forward government’s commitment to fight corruption.

This will go a long way to also reinforce the message of our 2009 Red October Campaign calling on all our people to join the fight against corruption. Fighting corruption is a necessary condition for building a developmental state, a state that cares and a state whose priority is the eradication of poverty and reducing social inequalities in society.

Corruption must be fought wherever it occurs, in the public and private sectors, as corruption is more often than not tantamount to stealing from the poor. Therefore the fight against corruption is not just a moral crusade but an important political struggle to defend and deepen our democracy in the interests of the workers and the poor.

Part of the struggle against corruption is to mobilize and defeat the corrupting influence of business interests in our revolution. We need to strengthen the struggle against the use of public office for purposes of private business interests. We also must expose and defeat the use of access to business resources to try and corruptly capture our organizations and government. Most promising revolutions, especially in capitalist environments, have faltered and even defeated because of the triumph of money and moneyed interests over the interests of the workers and the poor.

We urge the people of our country especially the workers and the poor to support government in this endeavour and also join our Red October Campaign to:

  1. Boldly expose corruption wherever it occurs
  2. Strengthen our trade unions as fighters against corruption
  3. To consistently demand action against those exposed for corruption
  4. Expose and roll back all forms of patronage based on use of positions of power to distribute resources in a corrupt manner
  5. Expose and defeat the ‘tenderpreneurs` – those whose mission is the corrupt pursuit and hand out of tenders
  6. Expose and defeat the ‘throwing of the javelin` – those using public office to selfishly set themselves up for private business opportunities!

Issued by the SACP

Contact:
Malesela Maleka
SACP Spokesperson – 082 226 1802