SA losing war against corruption, says analyst

Are we winning the war against corruption?

Against the backdrop of this week’s news that advocate Hermione Cronje is resigning as Investigating Directorate (ID) head, analysts and experts say it appears not.

“It’s very worrying indeed,” political analyst Ralph Mathekga said on Friday of the news that Cronje is stepping down early.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head advocate Shamila Batohi announced the news to her staff on Thursday. Batohi said in an e-mail: “Advocate Cronje has indicated the reasons for her decisions and I fully understand.”

Batohi said she would recommend the president accept Cronje’s resignation, effective on 1 March next year.

According to reports, the NPA has denied it’s in crisis. But Mathekga said the latest development was “difficult to spin”.

“When someone leaves like that, it certainly doesn’t inspire confidence. No doubt about it, the NPA is in trouble,” he said.

The ID was established in April 2019 – with Cronje its inaugural head – and was tasked with handling state capture-related crime.

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But almost three years on, there are low arrest numbers and delays in the prosecutions of those who have been charged.

“The NPA is not doing a stellar job,” Mathekga said. “And you have to ask yourself: Are we winning the war against corruption? The perception that begins to arise is that we are not.”

Accountability Now head Paul Hoffman agreed. “Game and first set to corruption,” he said.

He said reform of the criminal justice administration was urgent. Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse chief executive Wayne Duvenage said Cronje had set in motion important cases, including against alleged Gupta fixer Kuben Moodley and known Gupta acolyte Iqbal Sharma.

“But there are so many other bigger ones that still haven’t been moved on,” said Duvenage.

By now, people at a high level involved in state capture should have been in the dock.

“There should have been prosecutions – and even possibly people in jail.”

– bernadettew@citizen.co.za