Little done to bring the thieves to book

If you had to identify one issue which has stopped South Africa from becoming an African success story – and example to the world – it would be corruption.

The looters – mainly from the ANC’s ranks, but also including many from the private sector – have taken more than R1.5 trillion… money which could have been used to provide a genuinely better life for all.

As Daryl Swanepoel, of the Inclusive Society Institute, points out, very little has been done to bring the thieves to book. He raises the possibility of forming a national anti-corruption agency as a possible way of coordinating all legal anti-corruption efforts, as well as being responsible for a form of moral re-education which would make South Africans less accepting of corruption.

As Swanepoel points out, we need to assess whether forming such an organisation might not take resources and time better allocated to improving the performance of the 14 entities currently involved in various ways in combatting corruption.

It is clear that corruption is too close to home for the ANC to really get to grips with it, so the involvement of civil society groups like the Inclusive Society Institute in the process is to be welcomed.