Name and shame the vagrant public officials

While some may criticise DA Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson for grandstanding, he certainly doesn’t shrink from shining a light into the dark recesses of government and the civil service.

He revealed this week that inspections of government-owned properties, recently vacated by several ministers and their deputies, had found a trail of destruction left in their wake.

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At one of the luxury homes, nine carpets were ripped up while other “smash-and-grab incidents” by officials included the removal of kitchen cabinets.

At one official residence, residents had been running a taxi business.

The lack of respect by these public officials – and by that, we mean those who work for us, the taxpayers – is not surprising, given a culture of entitlement and a wish by many of our politicians to wallow in the trough of government largesse.

It shows, clearly in these cases, that many of our elected representatives got into “the game” not because they cared about South Africa’s citizens, but because they wanted “to eat” and be comfortable.

McPherson must pursue them all to recover stolen property and to pay for any damages. And, in doing so, he must name them.