Former finance minister Tito Mboweni says it is imperative that perpetrators of corruption are pursued and face the full wrath of the law.
Mboweni, who left government in August, said the pursuit of wealth rather than a commitment to serving the people has created a malevolent culture in society that is becoming more and more difficult to undo.
“We constantly have to balance the responsibilities to serve and protect the people of our countries in general and particularly the poorer sections of our societies with our broad objective to grow the economy and the tax base.” The rich countries sought to accumulate and hoard the vaccines for themselves and starve poor and developing countries from gaining access to these vaccines, and long struggles had to be fought before the vaccines began flowing to poor countries, he said.
Mboweni credited his upbringing in the Apostolic Faith Mission Church and Sunday school teachings for helping to guide him in distinguishing between right and wrong. If any leader in the national, provincial or local government, a company, or in a church, sports or any other community organisation used their position to steal, they contributed to the erosion of society.