Nkgono Jane says...

April 2016

There are so many allegations of corruption in the news these days. We know that if you are involved in corruption then you are not a good South African law abiding citizen. You are not contributing to building our beautiful country and creating a home for future generations.

This brought me to think about ‘Am I a law abiding citizen?’ – so often we think that other people are breaking the law when in fact we also break the law. Let us consider the use of the roads – do you stop at a stop sign? Do you keep below the speed limit on all roads? Do you overtake where there is a solid white line? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then you too are not abiding by the law and you are not a good citizen of South Africa.

Have you ever taken anything that was not yours? Have you ever sold anything that was not yours? Are your employees registered for UIF and are you making the required monthly contributions? Are you registered for income tax and are you declaring all your income for tax purposes? If you are registered for VAT, have you ever claimed VAT on items that were not for your business. If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these then you too are not abiding by the law and you are not a good citizen of South Africa.

If you are in the service of the government – have you ever taken a bribe from someone? Have you ever benefited a relative of yours? Have you ever given a job to someone who was in any way connected to you in spite of them not having the skills and education for the position? Have you taken ‘a cut’ on any deal that you were facilitating? Have you ever used government property for personal use? Have you ever used the GG car for personal use? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then you too are not abiding by the law and you are not a good citizen of South Africa.

My plea for this month is – ‘let us stand together and unite against crime and corruption’. Let us become good law abiding citizens and live by our wonderful constitution. This is our country and we need to build it so that our children and their children have a safe and prosperous home.

Publication: April 2016

Section: Pula/Imvula