During today’s debate in the North West Provincial Legislature, the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) emphasised that corruption in government not only results in direct financial losses, but also has a devastating ripple effect on the provincial economy.
The National Treasury (NT) calculated that government spending on local suppliers and contractors adds up to 150% of the initial expenditure’s value to the local economy.
The opposite is also true, though. For every million rand lost to corruption, R2,5 million is lost in growth and opportunities.
The Auditor-General (AG) found in its report that wasteful expenditure and corruption in North West municipalities amounted to R87 billion during the 2021/22 financial year. This means that corruption destroyed approximately R128 billion in growth potential for local economies in a single year.
The negative impact on local communities is immense. In the North West alone, 210 000 job opportunities were lost as a result of corruption.
There are very few signs of effective prosecution, despite numerous investigations and even forensic reports highlighting incidents of large-scale corruption. Corrupt looting syndicates merely refine their techniques to get their hands on even more public funds.
The ANC and its deployed cadres have turned once prosperous municipalities, such as Matlosana, Mamusa and Ditsobotla, into crime scenes, with corruption being the norm rather than the exception.
There is virtually no trace of basic service delivery to residents.
The fact that the ANC is also attempting to increase municipal taxes to compensate for budget shortfalls, caused by their corrupt activities, is further proof that they have lost touch with reality.
It is a disgrace that the ANC has sunk so low that it now expects residents and taxpayers to finance its corruption and mismanagement by paying higher taxes.
Clearly, the ANC sees North West taxpayers as a cash cow while it has absolutely no regard for the devastating impact its actions have on communities.
Keeping the ANC in power can be likened to a tax that South Africa can no longer afford to pay.
The Freedom Front Plus will keep combating corruption and exposing the ANC’s abuses.
