Umhlali Captain, Vinny Pillay has won the Integrity Idol in South Africa. This is the first time a South African has had the honour of winning this title.
Integrity Idol is a global campaign run by citizens in search of honest government officials. It aims to generate debate around the idea of integrity and demonstrate the importance of honesty and personal responsibility. The campaign hopes to inspire a new generation to be more effective public servants. Integrity Idol began in Nepal in 2014, spread to Liberia in 2015 and has now evolved into a global campaign.
Local teams of volunteers travelled across their countries gathering nominations from citizens, hosting public forums and generating a national discourse on the need for public officials with integrity. The nominees were narrowed down to a final 5 in each country with the help of independent panels of experts.
Captain Vinny Pillay was originally one of 4000 global nominees and has since gone on to win the top prize.
The Umhlali captain is the spokesperson for the station and is known throughout the North Coast for his friendliness and efforts to serve his community. A police officer since 1993, Captain Vinny has spent his life serving his community. His goal was to help as many people as possible. His efforts have not gone unnoticed.
The 2018 pool of countries included Nepal, Liberia, Pakistan, Mali, Nigeria and South Africa.
“It’s important to examine our own integrity in an effort to restore morals and values that are core to a functioning society. I am hoping to make a bigger difference in my community and work with the other Integrity Idols in realizing more concrete change in South Africa.” – Captain Pillay, the Intergrity Idol winner
The other finalists were Nurse Elizabeth Mkhondo, a nurse from Stanza Bopape Community Clinic in Mamelodi East; Firemen and EMS responders Jocelin Flank and Deon Esau from Florida Fire Department in Johannesburg; General Doctor Mirja Delport from Outshoorn; and Teacher Natascha Meisler; from PT Combined school in Trompsburg, Free State.
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