Madonsela’s advice to grant corrupt officials amnesty should not be entertained

Former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s suggestion that corrupt government officials possibly be granted amnesty should not be entertained, as it was a “bizarre” idea considering that the looting of the state appears to have been well planned and premeditated, said experts.

Speaking on SAFM on Monday, Madonsela suggested granting amnesty to corrupt officials, saying this could assist the country in starting on a clean slate.

She said her advice came from the two-year long state capture inquiry, where information was slowly trickling in with very few implicated people coming forward.

“The second reason is, I met a former colleague who now works at Harvard University. I met him at the World Bank years back and he had worked as mayor in Bolivia. He found that sometimes you have to let go of certain things and give people some kind of amnesty,” Madonsela had said.

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This, however, was a bizarre idea that “definitely” trampled on the rule of law and would require the establishment of a commission similar to the 1994 Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said legal expert Ulrich Roux.

“That can only happen if the President was to create a commission like that, and it would go against the provisions of the Criminal Procedures Act and pass a Bill to confirm that [commission] and have it approved by Parliament to create an environment for amnesty to be provided,” Roux explained.

“I don’t think it will work and will send out a good message to society, if there is a pardon for those implicated in corruption. The only way to start on a clean slate is to eradicate the rot in government and corrupt relations evident in the state capture inquiry,” Roux said.

Looking at the long list of corruption scandals including the Vrede Dairy Farm saga, the Mothotlung water crisis in the North West, and the recent sagas around the misuse of the R500 billion Covid-19 relief fund, it was nonsensical to forgive those who seem to have consciously planned to loot the state, said political analyst Professor Lesiba Teffo.

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“I wouldn’t support an idea like that simply because I am an African and I live on an African continent, and people go into politics precisely to enrich themselves rather than to serve the people… The corruption I see in my country and continent is premeditated and planned, and detrimental to the people.

“It is not a thought I would entertain given the history of the continent and how rampant corruption is,” he said.

He said continuing with corruption probes such as the Zondo commission into state capture would enable misused money to be recovered and justice would be done.

“The beauty of continuing with such commissions is you can recoup some of the money, justice will not only be done, but will be seen to be done, and thirdly and most importantly, those who acted knowing there is impunity would fear the law and would know the landscape has changed,” said Teffo.

rorisangk@citizen.co.za

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