It’s time to bring the corrupt to book

Widespread corruption is making it harder and harder for South Africans to reconcile.

That’s according to the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation’s annual South African Reconciliation Barometer Survey where “more than 80% of 2 400 respondents said South Africa was still far from reaching its reconciliation goals”. The distrust has a knock-on effect, and many believe “corruption worsens race relations”.

It’s been more than a year since the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture was launched. Countless mind-boggling stories from hundreds of witnesses at the commission, detailing deeply-rooted corruption across private and public sectors, have been detailed. Yet no action has been taken against the alleged perpetrators.

Analyst Andre Duvenage hit the nail on the head in calling for drastic steps to be taken against those fingered in corruption.

“If you just look at the money involved in state capture, it went to R100 billion – and it could even be more if we consider the corruption on different levels,” said Duvenage. “We need a more functional and ethical society to grow, otherwise we will end up with the rise of the haves which will see the black elite getting richer and the poor poorer.”

Some of the findings from the survey included: 74% of respondents said reconciliation would not be achieved “as long as political parties exploit social divisions for political gains – thus highlighting the need for transparent, responsible and accountable [political] leadership”; 73.3% said “it is impossible as long as those disadvantaged by apartheid remain poor”; 72.8% said “it is impossible while race categories were used to measure transformation”; and 72% said “it is impossible as long as gender-based violence continues in our society”.

It’s time to start bringing all those involved in corruption to book.

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