GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
24 October 2022
In his response to the Zondo Commission on state capture, President Cyril Ramaphosa sought to reassure South Africans that compromised systems, including tax collection and prosecutions, were back on their feet, and that the crisis of corruption has been averted.
There were no grand announcements or pronouncements; rather, a clutch of measures – legislative amendments, new procurement rules, new agencies and the restructuring of intelligence services – that will be implemented in future to strengthen South Africa’s anti-corruption arsenal.
The proof of the pudding will be in the implementation; for now, South Africans must wait and see.
The breadth of the measures the President announced underscored Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s argument that no single intervention could rid the country of corruption on its own.
Corruption is ultimately a human condition linked to integrity, entitlement and greed, for which there are no known cures in the world.
Political parties can contribute very meaningfully to the fight against public sector corruption by improving their candidate selection processes and appointing people who do not seek to serve themselves.
This was an area the President didn’t touch on last night. Nor did he reveal his thinking with respect to party colleagues implicated in proceedings of the Zondo Commission who continue to serve in parliament or in government
With regard to so-called cadre deployment, it would have been good to hear what measures will be taken to ensure that people appointed to administer government services are professionally qualified and not solely identified on the basis of their political connections.
The Zondo Commission recommended significant electoral reform, making specific reference to the Van Zyl Slabbert report. The President responded disappointingly last night, referring to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill adopted by Parliament last week. The Bill does not implement meaningful electoral reform, at all.
The President did commit to implementing legislative reform to address weaknesses in the procurement of public goods and services. However, he didn’t mention the fact that public consultation on the Public Procurement Bill closed two-and-a-half years ago and that Bill has since been gathering dust.
Inexplicable and indefensible delays in finalizing crucial legislation contribute to the opportunities for crime and corruption to flourish. This is a massive part of South African problem.
The President’s report back on progress being made with prosecutions, preservation orders (freezing of assets) and the recovery of stolen funds was welcome news. The slow pace of prosecutions remains a cause of great frustration. The State must invest in the criminal justice system.
The fight against corruption is an eternal one. It involves having mechanisms in place to prevent and detect corruption before it’s too late, and ensuring that there are consequences, where it went undetected until too late.
The proposals to protect and reward whistleblowers is significant. Whistleblowers should not continue to have to pay for reporting corruption.
The President’s acceptance of the Zondo Commission’s recommendation to amend the Political Party Funding Act is a small step in the fight against corruption.
A crime of corruption is committed when a donor makes a donation to a political party in return for contracts and tenders. The Political Party Funding Act and the funding regime needs more extensive reform to limit the role that private money plays in government decisions.
The role that the private sector plays in corruption cannot be ignored. The 10-year ban on Bain Consulting getting state contracts is welcome. There is a long list of individuals, consultancies and companies that have been identified as being complicit in state capture. They too must be flushed to the surface and isolated.
Finally, we welcome the President’s response to the recommendations on how board members of the State-Owned Enterprises / Entities should be appointed. Board members must have appropriate technical skills and be independent of political parties.
The composition of the new Eskom board is an example of a board appointed to get a job done.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za