The concerns raised by former chief justice Raymond Zondo about the slow pace of prosecuting beneficiaries and enablers of state capture are shared by many South Africans.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, his party and the government have not shown urgency and commitment to deal not only with state capture cases, but with corruption in general. Ramaphosa campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket, but many have been left disappointed about his achievements on this front.
His party, the ANC, developed step-aside guidelines as part of its renewal project. But the guidelines have been ineffective. Not just because there are claims that they are being implemented in a factional manner, but because they require that a person step aside only after being criminally charged by our law enforcement agencies.
This only served to protect the people who were mentioned as having played a role in selling state institutions to the highest bidder during the years of state capture. It was also done with the knowledge that our law enforcement agencies lacked the capacity to process and investigate the sophisticated cases of state capture.
State capture went beyond allegations that former president Jacob Zuma directed officials to bend over for the Guptas to loot state-owned companies. But there was a deliberate act to destroy law enforcement agencies to the point that they would be unable to conduct the basic work of investigations and prosecutions.
Zondo is correct. The dismantling of the Scorpions was just the start. The Zuma years were characterised by instability in the SAPS and the NPA – the very institutions that are at the centre of the fight against corruption.
Competent professionals were chased out and replaced with henchmen who did the bidding for politicians. The recent new revelations about the capturers of the criminal justice system, who happen to be underworld criminals, do not come as a shock. Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga has been tasked with investigating the latest allegations and we look forward to his findings.
We can have as many commissions as we want, but problems will remain if we don’t fix the structural problems that are proving to be a hurdle in the fight against corruption.
We need a fierce crime-busting unit with a similar capacity to that of the Scorpions. This would require a political will and serious resources to attract the type of skills needed to solve these sophisticated cases. Such a unit must be free from political influence.
Lastly, you need competent prosecutors to head the NPA. Without dealing with these fundamental issues, the next president will face the same criticism as Ramaphosa.
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