Shivambu’s appeal of 9-day salary docking an insult to VBS victims

3 October 2023

It is as disappointing as it is unsurprising to learn that the EFF’s VBS implicated official, Floyd Shivambu, will be appealing the Parliamentary Ethics Committee’s sanction to have his pay docked by 9 days.

While the poor and vulnerable victims of this heist wait with anticipation for justice, and some of the victims have passed away already, the culprits responsible for this heinous crime insist on finding creative ways to conceal the crime and overturn punishment.

This is an insult and a slap in the face for the many victims who have seen their pensions plundered by these culprits. Although this sanction is light in comparison to the gravity of the crime, as ActionSA, we hope that the criminal justice system will uphold this sanction and ensure that the guilty do not evade accountability.

While we would have liked to see Parliament mete out a harsher sanction, we are encouraged that the criminal proceedings will do just that.

For too long unethical leaders, civil servants and political party leaders have profited from corrupt activities without any real consequences. A culture of impunity has permeated public institutions which have become a breeding ground for greedy elite politicians. It is high time that the likes of Shivambu and many others who benefitted from the plundering of VBS monies, be brought to book.

Corruption must be declared as public enemy number one, and South Africa and South Africans must take a zero-tolerance approach to any and all corruption.

Issued by Sello Lediga, ActionSA Limpopo Provincial Chairperson, 3 October 2023