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Comments are based on opinion...not always facts....that's why people use an alias. -
Nkandla and the secrecy bill are good examples of how corruption can thrive if there is no transparency. If you have to hide what you are doing, there is usually a sinister reason for it. In Afrikaans they say"donker werk is konkel werk".
The ANC is trying to adopt the communist and Chinese practice of controlling the press and manipulating the information available to the people. In a dictatorship such as Zimbabwe and the former Lybia the press was only allowed to write what the state allowed it. No government corruption or wrongdoing would ever be reported.
It is our duty to protect our freedom of speech and access to information. The alternative is a one-party dictatorship where you will get no information, have no rights and have no say.Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...
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Ok, thanks ians, but I'm still not sure what is it that an individual like me should do in making a moral stand on the question of ethics and corruption, a pet hate of mine. I do agree with your initial statement viv-a-viz that more other than simply signing up for something is required however i cant but help think that signing up is at least a step in the right direction.Comment
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Ok, thanks ians, but I'm still not sure what is it that an individual should do in making a moral stand on the question of ethics and corruption, a pet hate of mine. I do agree with your initial statement viv-a-viz that more other than simply signing up for something is required however i cant but help think that signing up is at least a step in the right direction.Comment
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Ok, thanks ians, but I'm still not sure what is it that an individual like me should do in making a moral stand on the question of ethics and corruption, a pet hate of mine. I do agree with your initial statement viv-a-viz that more other than simply signing up for something is required however i cant but help think that signing up is at least a step in the right direction.Comment
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Think of it this way, you want to give up smoking, so you go buy a patch and stick it on your arm, does it stop you from smoking. I wouldnt know because i needed more than a patch on my arm to give up. I had to actually get off my butt, walk 10 km every morning and make an effort to overcome the craving, by walking it made me feel better, i started eating healthy which in turn made me think everytime i wanted to hang on a cigarette. Now 12 years later i still have the urge ever now and again to light up, but i think of all the effort i had to go through to give up, it is the 3 rd time in my life i have had to give up, because it is just tooo easy to light up, when you get bored or have a beer with the lads. By the way everytime i am admitted to hospital for heart problems, the first thing they ask is are you a smoker?
My point is it is just too easy sticking a patch on your arm, a sticker on the back of your car etc, type and click forward an email, chances are you have already forgotten about the email or sticker 30 minutes after you stuck it on.
When you listen to life couches, motivational speaker etc , they also say stick a picture next to your PC or something to remind you about what it is that you are trying to achieve, be it loosing weight, a goal you are trying to achieve, does it work i wouldnt know i have never done it. So i ask all of you who have, does it work?
Her is another thing, people who buy fitness bikes, home gyms etc, ( i know this is off the topic). When someone ask what i think about a new bike, home gym etc, i always say the same thing, before you waste your money on fitness stuff, just get up at 5 am and walk for 1 month, every day, it cost nothing, but you actually have to get up and do it, after 1 month it you are still walking, go buy the fitness stuff or join the gym. otherwise dont waste your money.
So signing up might be a step in the right direction but how long will it last?Comments are based on opinion...not always facts....that's why people use an alias.Comment
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Signing up may be a step in the right direction, providing you also get off your butt and do something. Often a community, forum or association's members support each other in persisting and by encouraging each other.
What can you do? Apply ethical business practices. Pay your suppliers in time - they are an essential part of your business. If you pay them late, they may just not be around next time you want to place that order. Do not risk messing with the tax man. Your business is worth more than the few Rands you can syphon off from SARS. Your accountant can assist you in legally reducing your tax. Evading tax is illegal and will result in us ending up like Greece.
Report corruption. KPMG and others have an anonymous fraud line. Don't just do what the law requires, but do what is right. Ethics goes much further than the law.
Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...Comment
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Public awareness to escalate it to a major talking point.
The first big step to fight for is to make public tenders transparent again. And ultimately it's a political decision that needs to be made. So we need to get it to the top of the political agenda - making it a burning issue in political elections.
The only information provided in public tenders nowadays is who won the tender. And even getting that can be a mission. The official reason is it "predjudices the buyer for future tenders if they disclose the tender amounts". What a crock of an excuse! As Blurock has already covered, corruption flourishes when it is out of sight, and there is little doubt the non-disclosure is actually driven by blow-back when the mischief first started because the irregularities were in plain sight.
Damn hard to call a foul when the evidence is deliberately hidden away.
We need to go back to public tender openings, where the bid amounts per tender given is disclosed, along with any claims to preferential scoring and variations from original specifications submitted.Participation is voluntary.
Alcocks Electrical Services | Alcocks Pest Control & Entomological Services | Alcocks Hygiene ServicesComment
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Agree 100% with your sentiments Dave A.
The PFMA requirements regarding requirements in excess of R500k i.e. Public (Open) Tender is being contravened in that Department's have been inviting the Public to "Bid" for the consideration of their names to be approved onto a Preferred Supplier Database - no specific quoting of prices for specific requirements at this point only submission of supporting documents to qualify placement onto the Database and this is where ther Public process ceases.
Once the Database has been created "publicly" requirements are then satisfied on aclosed basis whereby the Departments identify and invite Quotations confidentially from a select few pre-approved suppliers and nobody else knows who, what, when & how much! As a preferred supplier you only know about a specific requirement if you're asked to quote but even then you have no way of knowing who has been awarded the bid nor are you able to establish the price awarded!
The Agri Dept I deal with mainly and both National and Provincial Treasury have been extremely evasive in explaining whether this process is constitutionally and PFMA compliant, which I suggest it is grossly not.
If the PFMA requires a Public Tender on a requirement above R500k, how does the establishment of a Preferred Supplier Database satisfy that requirement. The compilation of a Database cannot be considered a tender because it does not require any prices and does not relate to a specific requirement. So there is no opportunity to evaluate competing bids at a price level, which incidentally accounts for 90 of 100 evaluation points in all bids exceeding R500k. At best, surely the "Public Process" requirement could only be satisfied by AT LEAST following an open process amongst ALL suppliers on the preferred database, which it does not.
Notwithstanding the above and coming back to my/your original points, if signing up for a good cause is not an effort in the right direction what exactly do you suggest might be. Whilst I agree with your high level thoughts what is it that you can offer that individuals might be able to do, rather than to simply debate the issue as we are doing here, that could move us all towards a potential solution?Comment
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Purely by chance I landed here and could not suppress the smile and occasional laugh as I read through the posts. I agree with Adrian. Signing a pettition I believe is, in most cases "Lip service", what purpose does that serve other than stroking one's ego?Signing up may be a step in the right direction, providing you also get off your butt and do something. Often a community, forum or association's members support each other in persisting and by encouraging each other.
What can you do? Apply ethical business practices. Pay your suppliers in time - they are an essential part of your business. If you pay them late, they may just not be around next time you want to place that order. Do not risk messing with the tax man. Your business is worth more than the few Rands you can syphon off from SARS. Your accountant can assist you in legally reducing your tax. Evading tax is illegal and will result in us ending up like Greece.
Report corruption. KPMG and others have an anonymous fraud line. Don't just do what the law requires, but do what is right. Ethics goes much further than the law.
On the other hand as Blurock says, sweep your own porch. Now that is the way I do it. Most of the people with fish stuck to their bumpers are actually a disgrace to it. The same applies to most of those with wristbands to "remind" them what to do. If you know what is right then do it, if you don't then research it.
To each his own. My long gone wife used to say "I am an individual with an individual right" also she said "I am who I am and I don't give a damn" (about what other people think).Comment
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In my opinion the current absence of moral and ethical behavior by government has severely compromised the ethical behaviour of a host of enterprises. My experience is that many companies that were, albeit reluctantly, ethical with regard to statutory obligations, now have the opinion that (as an example) taxation amounts to theft.
To be honest I share the sentiment to an extent. The real danger is that the attitude eventually becomes the rule rather than the exception and extends to other facets of their business; paying suppliers and their treatment of employees and customers, because in essence it becomes the way that they do business, rather than an aberration. It is indeed a slippery slope....
It even manifests itself in the way that they treat their strategic partners.
I personally feel that it is a sad day when we feel obliged to sign a manifest binding ourselves to ethical behaviour. It should be really be taken as done. It implies that absence of ethics is the norm and that signatories are the exception.Comment
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It is common knowledge that different societies and cultures have different ideas about morals and ethics. It is only in forums like this and in groups or organisations that meaningful debate can make people realize how their actions or inaction impacts on society as a whole.
It is very nice to say "I do my own thing" and to not get involved, but that does not make the world a better place. We all strive for peace and prosperity and dream about times when everything is was working, when councilors were not paid, but served the community. When children still played outside and could leave their bicycles and toys there when called for dinner. Many of us still remember times when moral fibre was held high and sport was not about the money and winning at all cost.
Breaking the rules, skipping red robots, abusing children, stealing from your employer, stealing from the people of South Africa (by a most corrupt government) has become the norm. Only by educating and organizing the masses and adding more voices of discontent and disgust will these practices be seen as unethical, corrupt and a sin against humanity.
I do not think that bumper stickers or the odd cheer or petition will help, but we all have to start somewhere and make a concerted effort to change the ethics and moral principles of our people if we do not want to slide into anarchy. In some areas we already have anarchy where there is no concern for lives lost and the anarchists do not care about the consequences of their actions. Is that what we want for this beautiful country?Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...Comment
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Going to church and having a fish on your bumper does not make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage with a Ferrari Tshirt on makes you a car!
I have always said that the problem with Christianity is Christians!!"Nobody who has succeeded has not failed along the way"
Arianna Huffington
Read the first 10% of my books "Didymus" and "The BEAST of BIKO BRIDGE" for free
You can also read and download 100% free my short stories "A Real Surprise" and "Pieces of Eight" at
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Ah but you see, for some it is important to "Just Do it" and for some it is important to advertise (The fish and the "oh I am so totally gay" - rainbow sticker)Comment
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Interesting article by Forbes and oh so true!
If I could teach only one value to live by, it would be this: Success will come and go, but integrity is forever. Integrity means doing the right thing at all times and in all circumstances, whether or not anyone is watching. It takes having the courage to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences will be. Building a reputation of integrity takes years, but it takes only a second to lose, so never allow yourself to ever do anything that would damage your integrity.
Well worth a read.
Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...Comment
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