Veterans of South Africa’s liberation war on Tuesday joined other sectors of the country to condemn the corrupt practices surrounding the alleged looting by “Covid-preneurs” of funds allocated to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The former guerrilla fighters, under the name of Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA), made their feelings known during a briefing on a meeting of its leadership held over the weekend.
The group said it was appalled by reports of corrupt allegations linked to Covid-19 relief funds.
The government and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) should act tougher on those implicated, most of who were government officials, the association said.
MKMVA president Kebby Maphatsoe said the association had expected President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC to take tougher action against the looters, but was appalled that “they continue to fail to take decisive action.”
“The MKMVA demands that all corruption must be cleaned to the bone and cleaned up without fear or favour. This will be possible if factionalism is rooted out of the party,” Maphatsoe said.
He said the Covid-19 corruption saga would be Ramaphosa’s litmus test as he used the issue of corruption as the basis of his campaign for the ANC presidency.
“The president campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket and for unity in the ANC. To successfully lynch the boil of corruption that is now poisoning the whole body of our liberation movement, factionalism and selective morality that destroys unity, must be rooted out,” Maphatsoe said.
He added: “For the sake of the restoration of the credibility of the ANC, the MKMVA insists that our president must act decisively against all the Covid-19 emergency fund looters, no matter what their proximity to him maybe.”
The veterans leader said Ramaphosa has the constitutional powers to take decisive action against the looters, “and has the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), and other security agencies at his disposal to act immediately.”
NM/jn/APA