During an Easter vigil at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to come clean and be open about the theft at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.
Archbishop Makgoba simultaneously encouraged the youth to become ‘angelic troublemakers,’ pursuing a new struggle for transformation in South Africa.
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According to News24, the Archbishop said that South Africans need to know ‘what happened and why it happened.’
While delivering his Easter message at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, he said:
‘The trickle of disconnected announcements on investigations arising from the theft of money from the president’s Phala Phala farm still hasn’t explained satisfactorily why such large amounts of money weren’t banked, and the ANC’s refusal to allow a parliamentary inquiry is reminiscent of the cover-ups of the Zuma administration.’
An independent panel put together by Parliament and led by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo found that Ramaphosa had to answer for the theft of foreign currency from his farm in February 2020, which led to accusations of wrongdoing.
Ramaphosa was found to have possibly violated the country’s anti-corruption laws; however, the panel’s recommendation for a full investigation by the National Assembly was thwarted when the ANC majority in Parliament voted against adopting the report.
According to News24, Makgoba stated that if South Africa is to build the nation we want—one based on transparency and honesty—the president must provide a comprehensive account of what happened and why it happened.
Turning to the youth, Makgoba reportedly stated that history is replete with examples of people failing to read the signs of the times and paying the price.
‘But it is also replete with moments when active citizens, especially young people, seized the day and brought about real transformation,’ he added. ‘We saw its potential when students campaigned for fees to fall in South Africa.’
Makgoba urged the youth to engage in a new struggle for a new generation: a struggle to reclaim a moral compass, a struggle to end economic inequity, a struggle to achieve equality of opportunity and a struggle to realise the Constitution’s promises.
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