Showtime for Saxonwold shebeen’s patrons

Does the arrest of the Saxonwold shebeen’s most famous patron, Brian Molefe, mean SA has turned the tide against corruption? Is he a big enough fish to convince doubters, or this going to be another “catch and release”, as practised by anglers and inept law-enforcers. Scepticism is warranted.

Molefe and fellow former Transnet executive Anoj Singh, who joined him in the dock on Monday, are indeed significant figures. But they are not in jail. They have each been released on R50 000 bail, which is pocket change to them.

Given the low rates of conviction among the political classes, a guilty verdict could still be a long way off. And if such a verdict should come to pass, the further step of imprisonment is by no means certain.

Remember these are Zuptas. They will employ every conceivable ploy, fight each corner – Stalingrad style – to stay out of jail. And they have deep pockets.

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It may seem curmudgeonly to pour scorn on the NPA’s achievements but it’s too early to celebrate. Six years after former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report, how many Zuptas have been jailed? None.

More than a year after the rioting and looting in what President Cyril Ramaphosa called a failed insurrection, how many prominent ringleaders have been jailed? None. As Stephen Grootes writes in Daily Maverick, the Hawks have not arrested any member of the ANC’s national executive committee since the Zondo commission report on state capture was published.

“This despite the devastating findings against Mosebenzi Zwane, Bongani Bongo, Sfiso Buthelezi and others”.Yet, regardless of the lack of high-profile prosecutions, the timing is playing out rather well for Ramaphosa, who faces a leadership contest at the ANC’s national conference in December.

The adjournment of the cases against Molefe, Singh (and others) until 14 October, with further delays likely, will allow Ramaphosa to carry into the ANC conference the impression of corruption-busting. Especially if there are more arrests in September, as promised by National Prosecuting Authority head Shamila Batohi.

The appointment of “national anticorruption advisory council” members also fits the bill. According to the official announcement, the president has, “strengthened South Africa’s fight against fraud and corruption”. Balderdash. He doesn’t need an advisory council in order to fight corruption. He needs testicular fortitude, or backbone, or both.

When it comes to allegations of corruption, Ramaphosa hasn’t shaken off the notion that furniture at his Phala Phala game farm was illegally stuffed with foreign currency. And if publicity around Phala Phala was a dirty tricks smear by his opponents within the ANC, there may be more to come.

ALSO READ: Brian Molefe, Anoj Singh, two others granted bail of R50 000 each

There are suggestions that the radical economic transformation faction of the ANC will release far more damaging material before December. So, Molefe’s arrest and brief court appearance may be little more than another salvo in the ANC’s internal struggles.

Footnote: In 2016, after Madonsela (via cellphone tracking) identified him as having frequent contact with the Guptas, Molefe said: “There is a shebeen there, I think it’s two streets away from the Gupta house.” No such shebeen has been credibly traced.