Anti-Corruption Day: ‘Overcomplicating matters and cases’ an issue in SA

As the world on Friday marked International Anti-Corruption Day, experts said graft remained rampant in South Africa – despite the election of President Cyril Ramaphosa on an anti-corruption ticket – with Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse CEO Wayne Duvenage, saying it could not be commemorated in the same manner as the fall of apartheid.

Duvenage, whose organisation championed the scrapping of e-tolls in Gauteng, said while state capture commissions – from Zondo to Nugent – were useful in unearthing and exposing the gravity of corruption in government, evidence has not been sufficiently used to hold those implicated in crimes against the state, to account.

“The Zondo, Nugent and other reports are indeed valuable resources to the criminal justice system, but sadly, evidence has not been sufficiently used.

“Some good work has indeed been carried out on (former Eskom CEO) Brian Molefe, (suspended ANC secretary-general) Ace Magashule, (ANC MP and former mineral resources minister) Mosebenzi Zwane, but that is far too little, given the gravity of the accusations and evidence that has been provided,” said Duvenage.

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On where the glitches lied, Duvenage cited “lack of capacity and skills – a mindset of overcomplicating matters and cases”.

He said there was “vast growth in cases piling on top of existing ones, which included a decade of inertia with NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) during the Shawn Abrahams years”.

“I sincerely trust and hope that there is no trepidation or political interference within the NPA and the Hawks, when it comes to tackling some matters – as opposed to others,” he said.

Still rampant

While it had to be seen as a significant date on the calendar, Duvenage said South Africans were unable to celebrate International Anti-Corruption Day with the same vigour as Freedom Day.

“Freedom Day on 27 April, marked the successful end of the apartheid rule and the start of our journey to freedom for all who live in the country.

“On the other hand, corruption remains rampant in SA, despite President Ramaphosa’s rise to the position of power in 2018, on the back of an anti-corruption campaign.

“While the NPA, Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit, are better equipped today than they were during former preside Jacob Zuma’s state capture years, they remain steeped in capacity constraints.

“To this day, connected political figures and administrators, continue to hijack the procurement process in government at all levels,” maintained Duvenage.

Policy analyst and a human rights activist, Dr Nkosikhulule Nyembezi, said International Anti-Corruption Day, served to “challenge citizens to maintain vigilance and redouble efforts to promote zero-tolerance on corruption in our society”.

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Said Nyembezi: “Unfortunately, the ANC under Ramaphosa, kept individuals implicated in corruption and maladministration of public funds, in political office.

“That suggests a low threshold of organisational renewal and integrity for admission to the party’s deployment list.

“Or could it be that Ramaphosa played with such words on integrity, without knowing what they meant?

“On those points alone, he has led in the opposite direction – showing that Nasrec 2017 (previous ANC national conference) failed to unite and strengthen the party’s anti-corruption pledges and it has not galvanised and not rejuvenated the party.”

Corruption the biggest issue

Nicki van ‘t Riet, head of legal at Corruption Watch, described corruption as “the biggest issue facing South Africa as a country”.

Said Van ‘t Riet: “While some headway is being made in the fight against corruption, we are seeing some downward trends as well.

“Downward corruption trends include rampant graft in the educational and policing sectors – as well as in public procurement processes.

“Enforcement against foreign bribery has also hit a historic low.

“There is lack of dedicated resources to empower key institutions and a failure to provide sufficient protection to whistle-blowers.

“A concerted effort needs to be made in reforming the whistle-blower protection laws – building and empowering anti-corruption institutions.”

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brians@citizen.co.za