http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=7580
THE South African Communist Party (SACP) has launched a red card campaign against corruption in which they are targeting young people in their messages.
During the SACP anti corruption seminar in Parktonian, South Africa yesterday, SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande said the youths must not just be treated as a passive lot, but must mobilise and be mobilised to be at the centre of the struggle against corruption for the sake of their future and that of South Africa.
“Let the youth of our country rise up against corruption in the true spirit of the class of 1976 which rose against the apartheid regime. 2010 is the year of action against corruption,” Nzimande, who is also Minister of Higher Education in President Jacob Zuma's government, said.
“It is indeed a truism that our youth has become a particular target for corrupt and other malfeasance in society. Our youth today is a particular target by druglords and other peddlers. Our youth is also a target by large sections of the media with decadent values of 'get rich quick' and the idolisation of wealth. Our young people are vulnerable precisely because of the conditions of poverty that millions of them face. They are the most affected by unemployment, and figures show that for instance of the 6.8 million 18-24 year olds in our country, about 2.8 million of them are neither in an education institution, employment nor training.”
Nzimande said there would be red cards in the 2010 Fifa World Cup but that amongst those many red cards during the World Cup tournament, there must be 'one big red card' against corruption.
“Let us not spend all the time at this summit lamenting about corruption. Let us spend our time more fruitfully by focusing attention discussing ways and means to tackle the scourge of corruption. This, however, does not mean that we must not analyse the sources and patterns of corruption in both the public and private sectors but in doing so we must be action and solution oriented.”
Nzimande said a campaign against corruption must not be seen as a substitute for the relevant state agencies, but assist and work with the agencies in order to defeat the scourge.
“We must also discuss how we should seek to forge a partnership between the people and these institutions. Therefore, part of our campaign must be to protect the integrity of these institutions and ensure that they do their work without fear or favour. Another matter that we must focus our attention on is that of fighting corruption in the private sector,” he said.
Nzimande said there was need to also discuss how to combat corruption in the state, especially around tenders and government services and programmes in general.
He said SACP believed that the fight against corruption was not merely a moral, but a political struggle.
“The struggle against corruption is political also because it is aimed at building the confidence of our people to tackle corruption, to expose it, to be whistle blowers without fear of being victimised. The corrupt will always seek to intimidate our people, so that they do not have the confidence to confront their actions,” he said.
He hoped that the initiative would grow to draw in all people in various formations including the trade unions, stokvels and burial societies, civic organisations, the Non-Governmental Oganisations, religious organisations, traditional leaders, youth, women, and student organisations to stand and confront corruption wherever it occured.
Nzimande said, in elevating the political nature of the struggle against corruption, the moral dimensions of the struggle must not be lost.
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