Picture: Oxfam Blogs
Faizel Patel – 21/08/2020
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation says its online rally on Friday evening to protest against COVID-19 corruption is to draw attention back to some of the core values that Ahmed Kathrada held and symbolized including ethics and integrity, which is still relevant to South Africa
Several high profile people, including Advocate Thuli Madonsela, Derek Hanekom, Frank Chikane and others representing labour, business, civil society and the faith-based sector will be in attendance.
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation’s Executive Director Neeshan Balton says they are using the birth anniversary of the struggle stalwart to create awareness about COVID-19 corruption.
“We have brought together a wide section of society to various formations, to in a sense articulate the national anger and concern about especially COVID-19 corruption, but also corruption and state capture in general.”
Balton says government has procrastinated in taking action against corruption and corrupt individuals.
“They have belatedly started acting and it’s not to say that the government was not forewarned about the possibilities of this problem. Ourselves and many others did that as far back as May. So certainly the sense of preparing for what was fairly obvious was lacking and not to have put in place detection measures to prevent this I think is shocking.”
Balton says he hopes that the money that was looted by corrupt officials be recovered and those found guilty of corruption be imprisoned as soon as possible.
Balton emphasized that if South Africans stand together, they can force government and the private sector to act on the issues of state capture and corruption.
The rally will take place from 7pm to 9pm.
Listen to the interview with Neeshan Balton
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