Equal Education will be joining the Unite Against Corruption march taking place on the 30th of September 2015. This is in line with our 2015 congress resolutions where we resolved:
“Equal Education must support organising and peaceful protest action against corruption, together with progressive forces in society. The movement should also work to involve other organisations in the struggle against corruption.”
It is for this reason that EE will be part of the marches taking place both in Pretoria and Cape Town. We believe that all South Africans must fight and challenge corruption in order to protect our democracy and forward our national development aims.
As Equal Education we stand against the following forms of corruption:
1. The corruption of the construction industry which colluded in order to inflate the cost of building the 2010 World Cup stadiums. This corruption stole public money from libraries, hospitals and services needed by our communities.
2. The corruption and impunity of the political and business elite, as epitomised by Nkandla. We stand by the Public Protector and demand that her report be implemented.
3. The corruption of illicit capital flows which smuggle resources needed for social development, services and democracy, out the country.
4. The corruption at some schools where principal posts are sold by corrupt ‘unionists’, and where the civil service becomes a patronage network.
5. The private sector corruption where South African CEOs get paid an average of 140 times more than their employees – with the gap in some companies reaching as high as 725 times. This is corruption because it represents an alliance of capital and government to distribute wealth continually upwards, out of all proportion to actual contributions to productivity, leading to growing inequality in South Africa and globally.
6. The corruption of the Youth Wage Subsidy, which has been proven repeatedly by independent research by UCT’s SALDRU to be nothing but a R2bn government subsidy to business yet to create any jobs.
7. The corruption of Parliament & democracy by the deliberate concealing of party political funding.
Equal Education calls on the South African Government to:
1. Properly fund and defend the the independence of institutions with constitutional duties to investigate and prosecute cases of corruption, both in the public and private sectors, and to account for public spending, including spending related to education;
2. Create facilities for students to report corruption and inappropriate behaviour to independent evaluators who are empowered to listen and immediately act on those complaints, while keeping the learners identities secret;
3. Commit to send inspectors for surprise visits at schools to investigate corruption, poor or unethical work, mismanagement, and fraud;
4. Implement the Public Protector’s report on Nkandla which found that President Zuma unduly benefited and should pay back a portion of the R246m.
5. Scrap the scandalous and ineffectual Youth Wage Subsidy (aka the Employment Tax Incentive).
As a movement we remain committed to transparent and accountable leadership. We expect of our members to demonstrate the same integrity and honesty in their own lives that we expect from the leadership of the movement and government. We urge all South Africans to adopt the same attitude in efforts to fight corruption.
The march will be taking place in Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Grahamstown, all participants will gather at 11am. For more information on the routes please visit the Unite Against Corruption march facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/UACnow
For more information:
Samuel Shapiro (March liaison for Equal Education)
071 874 8621
Ntuthuzo Ndzomo (Deputy General Secretary)
072 931 4343
Nombulelo Nyathela (Equal Education spokesperson)
060 503 4933
