Elect the right people to parliament

I admire the KZN police commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's courage and boldness.

Mkhwanazi has risked his career by exposing the damning allegations against the Minister of police, Senzo Mchunu.

The KZN commissioner's utterances have divided the nation, though, I must say. I don't want to get into the argument of whether Commissioner Mkhwanazi was right by calling a press conference instead of reporting the matter to the national commissioner of police and the president. He has his reasons why he chose to call the press conference instead.

That's a topic for another day. The other year, an ANC politician, Bathabile Dlamini, said most of the members of her political party have smallanyana skeletons in the closet. Many of us treated her utterance as a joke.

But it is becoming clearer by the day that she was telling the truth. The joke is on us. It is clear that some, if not most, of our political leaders are in the pockets of drug dealers, criminals and business people. That means the decisions they take are not in the best interest of the poor masses. Instead, they make decisions that favour their handlers at the expense of citizens. Whatever happened to honesty?

Let's say, for instance, Mchunu is indeed in the pockets of drug dealers. He, as the minister of police, would make sure that his handlers are safe and untouchable, whilst committing a crime, thus putting the lives of citizens at risk.

This goes for other political leaders and ministers as well. It's public knowledge that citizens have lost trust and confidence in our political leaders and political system. This is because they (political leaders) are not honourable, and are not doing anything to redeem themselves. Worse, they don't care that citizens no longer trust them, as long as they get what they want - money and power, for instance.

Lastly, it's time citizens stand up and be counted. They must stop complaining and putting their future in the hands of dishonest politicians. They should identify the right people in their communities and elect them to parliament, the legislature and the council. Otherwise, the status quo will remain.

Thabile Mange, Kagiso