JOHANNESBURG - Zwelinzima Vavi (pictured), general secretary of the influential Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), has warned that South Africa was at risk of going the same way as neighbouring Zimbabwe if steps were not taken to curb rampant corruption.Addressing delegates at the Business Unity South Africa Anti-Corruption Business Forum in Johannesburg on Friday, Vavi said: Our country is in danger. As more and more join this race to self-enrichment, the more the needs of workers and the poor take a back seat. Individualism takes root. Soon we will be en-route to Zimbabwe and other failed revolutions elsewhere in the world.
He added: This is not what OR Tambo sacrificed 30 years of his life in exile for. This is not what Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life in prison for. This is an insult to all of our heroes and heroines. We must stop this cancer before it is too late. We must raise our fingers now before we reach a time when no one will be able to raise a finger without it being chopped off.
Graft and corruption are rampant in South Africa despite President Jacob Zuma, himself previously accused of such conduct, pledging to rein in such practices. Analysts have previously warned corruption would run down Africas biggest economy as was the case in Zimbabwe.