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It is really no joke

WE can imagine Congolese nationals living in South Africa rolling on the floor with laughter after hearing that their host country is in the process of helping the Democratic Republic of Congo set up graft-fighting mechanisms.

WE can imagine Congolese nationals living in South Africa rolling on the floor with laughter after hearing that their host country is in the process of helping the Democratic Republic of Congo set up graft-fighting mechanisms.

If only it were that funny.

It is depressingly true that South Africa, ranked 55th out of 180 countries by Transparency International's 2009 Corruption Perception Index, is in no position to teach anybody about fighting graft.

Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi's is in denial if he wants us to ignore these findings.

Our media is awash with news of corruption. Granted, not every story is true, but the sad reality is that an inordinately large number hold some truth.

Baloyi is in delusional if he thinks that stories about the politically connected looting state resources are a figment of some people's imaginations.

The joke is on him if he thinks there is nothing to be made of public servants giving dodgy contracts to individuals closely linked to the head of a province.

These perceptions are not helped by the fact that we have at this very moment a criminal trial in which the national chief of police - as he then was - was in the pocket of criminal syndicates.

Just yesterday we reported that an MEC in North West had admitted that R1,6-billion had gone missing in a mere three months.

If anything we need help along with the DRC, otherwise it would be a case of the blind leading the blind.

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