We are living through turbulent times. Half of the current daily news articles are about government corruption, misuse of public funds, state capture, assault on the National Treasury and the Reserve Bank, illegal procurement processes and mismanagement of state-owned enterprises.
We are living through turbulent times. Half of the current daily news articles are about government corruption, misuse of public funds, state capture, assault on the National Treasury and the Reserve Bank, illegal procurement processes and mismanagement of state-owned enterprises. The government defends this with a narrative of radical economic transformation, white monopoly capital, land appropriation without compensation, nationalisation and that ugly word, “racism” – with much of it, we now know, emanating from a UK PR firm.
The exposé of just how corrupt the system has become has come from courageous reporting by the Daily Maverick and amaBhungane, as well as the Sunday Times and City Press.
Despite these exposés there is still no respite – South Africa and its citizens suffer. The costs are astronomical and mounting: economic recession, credit-rating downgrades, retrenchments, a volatile currency, the inability of state-owned enterprises and government to raise adequate funding – and higher interest costs on the funding they do secure, which takes money away from projects such as education, healthcare, policing, water infrastructure and many other basic services that the government is obliged to provide. If this continues, more hardships will follow as we all get progressively poorer.
While the battles rage on the average South African may feel hopeless, which can easily translate into complacency and apathy. And yet we are far from hopeless, and should never become complacent. We are not Zimbabwe, with a small population easily controlled by a paid-off army and an option to migrate south. There is no “south” for South Africa – there is only the ocean. Hence we have nowhere to go and no choice but to fight.
In that fight, our court system has become the only effective enforcer of the Constitution. It recently threw out the costly nuclear deal and protected the poor in the SASSA/CPS debacle. Now it is demanding an explanation from the President for the reshuffle at National Treasury that led to our junk-status credit rating and recession.
Many non-political lobbying groups, civil society organisations and investigative journalists are fighting and exposing corruption on behalf of South Africa’s 55-million people. Their good intentions alone are not enough, however, as they require significant funding to investigate and fight these cases in court.
We often hear people express the sentiment that “I can’t do anything as an individual to change what is happening in South Africa today.”
In response Sygnia, as a corporate citizen, has created a mechanism whereby you can do something meaningful with a minimum of effort.
With immediate effect, Sygnia will donate 100% of the management fees we earn on our new money market unit trust to non-political organisations fighting corruption, both in the public and the private sector.
Money market unit trusts are as close to “cash” investments as the asset management industry has to offer. The slightly higher risk comes with an associated higher return potential.
Here is how it works:
You can invest as little as a once-off amount of R1 000, or a regular R500 per month, in the Sygnia Money Market Unit Trust. To be clear, this is an investment and not a donation. You can withdraw your money at any stage.
Sygnia charges a management fee of either 0.50% per annum or 1% per annum to manage the unit trust – we have opened two new unit classes to enable that. The choice is yours.
Sygnia will donate its entire management fee to the following organisations: OUTA, the Black Sash, amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism, Corruption Watch, the Helen Suzman Foundation, the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution, the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.
Application forms are available on our website (www.sygnia.co.za).
Your investment will be completely confidential, as we will not release the names of the investors in any public forum.
So if you invest R1 000 at the 0.50% per annum level, we will charge you a management fee of R5 every year and donate that entire fee towards fighting corruption. Is R5 meaningful? Yes. If we raise just R200 million in total investments, that will translate into R1 million in donations.
Over R300 billion is invested in money market unit trusts in South Africa, all earning similar returns. Let’s put those investments to better use.
If you have some spare cash in a bank account, invest it in a money market unit trust with a social purpose. You will make an enormous contribution to saving South Africa from corruption, while earning cash-like returns. If you are an existing money market unit trust investor, consider moving that money to the Sygnia Money Market Unit Trust, or lobby your asset manager to follow our example. The investment is not limited to individuals – retirement funds are encouraged to make an allocation, while still complying with their regulatory requirements.
We need your help in spreading this message far and wide. Every R1 000 matters.
Corruption is eating away at the moral fabric of our society. Whether it is the government or the private sector, the message is the same: South Africa cannot thrive while the culture of greed and entitlement prevails. Let your savings make a difference.