SA’s corruption crisis: The face of graft is in every corner

Such is the blatant corruption that has seeped into every corner of our country that South Africans have mostly become immune to fresh reports of theft and graft.

Almost daily, we hear of taxpayers’ money either being stolen, mismanaged or of some or other family member of a government official benefitting from a dodgy tender.

Yesterday, we reported on a community hall in the North West that, despite being built in 2018, has not officially been handed over.

The Mpakirabusang Community Hall in the Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality, near Zeerust, cost taxpayers R5.6 million, yet there’s very little to show for it.

The walls are cracking, windows are broken and the fence is collapsing. The parking lot can only accommodate five cars.

With the exception of an unused fourplate stove, the hall is empty. There are two toilets but with no water as the pressure pump has been stolen.

Then there’s the issue of the land. The Motsoakae family insists the municipality used the land without their consent and now demand the building be demolished so their descendants can use their ancestral land.

Some will argue it’s only R5.6 million – small fry in the greater scheme of things when you consider the explosive revelations of state capture over the last decade.

Yet, for the 10 000 people living in the Mokgola village, it could be a life-changer if managed correctly.

How sad, indeed.

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