CAPE TOWN JUNE 18, 2019 (CISA)– Fr Peter John Pearson, head of the Parliamentary Liaison Office of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has praised the efforts being made by President Cyril Ramaphosa is fighting corruption in South Africa.
“President Ramaphosa is definitely striking the right course and no one doubts his goodwill,” Fr Pearson recently told CRUX.
“It is interesting to note that in line with the cost-cutting of legislatures, one provincial legislature has scrapped an official big opening and others have followed that example of the president. So the effects are beginning to show… examples can give rise to it becoming a norm. This is certainly what we hope for in South Africa,” the priest added.
After Ramaphosa’s re-election in May, the Catholic bishops called on the president to show determination in the fight against corruption.
“Now that the election is over, we expect the President of our nation to dispense with the politics of expediency and show firm hand in dealing with those implicated in corruption and state capture,” the bishops wrote in their congratulatory statement.
The Bishops also called on the President to ensure that those suspected of corruption and state capture are not appointed into the cabinet and the Parliament.
According to CRUX, President Ramaphosa has seemed to heed that call. He has empowered law enforcement agencies to arrest officials if overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing emerges against them.
“This has been evident in the number of sackings of former cabinet ministers in the recent cabinet announcement as well as the one when he took over,” Fr John Peter said.
“It is clear that he is the people’s choice if you look at the election results in this sense that his party even with a decreased majority nationally, showed a better national result than the various provincial results, meaning that people voted for him nationally but not for the ANC provincially,” he said.
The priest said Ramaphosa can take on corrupt officials without fear or favor.
“There are at least three important commissions of enquiry into aspects of corruption on the go at the moment. You cannot turn back the clock on what is emerging from those commissions and he has created mechanisms within the law enforcement agencies to deal with the outcomes. That is a huge step forward in exposure and accountability and steering the state in the right direction,” he explained.
President Ramaphosa is expected to deliver his first State of the Nation address in his second term on June 20.
