Duvenage proves that uniting against graft wins the day

While it’s not something we didn’t know, chief executive of Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) Wayne Duvenage’s words that corruption is only getting worse should make us all worried.

In an interview we carried in Saturday Citizen, Duvenage says the only way we can combat the rampant corruption is to fight it together.

He should know.

It took a decade-long fight from his side, with the help of the public standing together, to finally kill off e-tolls – the dreaded “user pays system” that was forced on motorists by government in December 2013.

Last week, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, during his medium-term budget policy statement, announced a R23.7 billion allocation to Sanral, as well as aid from the national and Gauteng governments to deal with its R47 billion debt.

It effectively ended the e-toll farce.

As Duvenage, who sacrificed so much in the e-toll battle, rightfully points out: this should always be used as a reminder of how strong we are united.

Duvenage said: “Corruption has not stopped. In fact, it has got worse at provincial and local government. Civil society will become the masters of their own destinies when it comes to managing local government and we need to empower them to do so effectively. We will continue to tackle corruption as the main element of Outa’s work.”

We need more people like Duvenage to ensure we, the taxpayer, do not get taken for a ride.

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