Minister Lindiwe Zulu must be fired for stealing from GBVF victims
12 December 2023
It is disappointing and unsurprising to learn that Social Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu, and her acting Director-General, Linton Mchunu, stand accused of deliberately bungling a R100 million transfer of funds. Funds which were meant for empowerment programmes for the survivors of gender-based violence and femicide.
This happened at the height of 16 Days of Activism with alarming rates of gender-based violent crimes and femicide in South Africa. This grave act of corruption and embezzlement seriously undermines the work that has been done and sends us even further off-track in our efforts to eliminating all forms of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF).
Corruption is criminal, immoral and the ultimate betrayal of public trust. It is even more damaging in times when South Africa is experiencing out-of-control violence with 969 women murdered in just three months. For the Minister, these funds may be just another paycheck but for millions of victims of GBVF, these funds are the difference between life and death.
We are calling on President Ramaphosa to show decisive leadership and fire Minister Lindiwe Zulu. Corruption must be declared as public enemy number one, and South Africans must take a zero-tolerance approach to any and all forms of corruption.