Give state institutions resources to investigate the allegations contained in the Zondo commission report, says Cosatu.
On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his plans to respond to the state capture report, which garnered varied reactions from political parties as well as business.
Speaking to Sowetan on Monday, Cosatu national spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the next step was the easiest. He proposed Ramaphosa hand over the report to relevant state institutions and capacitate them with resources in order to get the job done.
“There are allegations that can only be investigated by the Hawks, Special Investigation Unit, SAPS (South African Police Service) and prosecuted by the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority). He must say these are the allegations, do what you're supposed to and then allocate resources.
“We spent more than R1bn on this commission but resources must be allocated where needed. Hire and hire more people, commission forensic investigations, if you need to attract scarce skills to unravel crimes, bring those from the ICT sector, investigate, and where you find evidence hand over to the NPA.
“This is not complicated. No one else is qualified. Give institutions the report and give them a clear mandate and then let parliament play oversight role,” Pamla said.
Pamla added that one of the things to come out of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture was the abuse of government’s procurement processes.
He said to deal with that, relevant departments such as National Treasury and SARS should be roped in. “Those institutions have to be given support and resources to make sure they deliver on the mandate.
“You then set timeframes, targets as to when you expect these to be completed. It can’t be an open-ended process that has no stop or start,” Pamla said.
Among the measures Ramaphosa announced was the setting up of a permanent anti-corruption agency, lifestyle audits for the executive, including the president, killing off of the internal state security agency as currently instituted and criminalisation of donating funds to political parties with the expectation of getting government contracts.
Underwhelmed by Ramaphosa’s timeframes, Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA) CEO Parmi Natesan said the president had set unwarrantedly long timelines in place for the establishment of better processes for selecting board members for state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
“The lengthy timelines indicated in the president’s written response simply do not make sense, especially given the urgency of the matter.
“The president’s timeline is too long given the urgent need to begin repairing our SOEs; it’s also unwarranted because the Guide was apparently finalised in early 2019 after input from the IoDSA, among other organisations.”
Lawrence Khoza, political analyst and former member of the Joburg mayoral council, warned Ramaphosa should be judged on his actions and not words. “Politics never rewards plans and pronouncements, however laudable. It is implementation with tangible results that SA needs,” said Khoza.
He warned that Ramaphosa might find it difficult to implement some of these proposals because some key leaders of the party he leads have been fingered.
“He needs to implement the Zondo recommendations without regard for factionalism and political calculus. Fighting state capture enjoys high political salience that the president can use to boldly implement the reasonable recommendations of Judge (Raymond) Zondo.
“The president’s pronouncements are spot on. Yet they lack in specific action plans. More crucially, many do not believe that the president has the political stamina to see to the implementation of the Zondo Commission’s proposals.
Khoza added that Ramaphosa’s success depended on fixing the economy and being seen to be pushing back against unemployment and poverty.
“It is difficult to implement such recommendations when your Presidency is characterised by rising crime, increasing unemployment, rising crime levels and growing inequality.”
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