No good can come of watching corruption
On Thursday, 26 January 2012, a handful of politicians, trade unionists and concerned citizens attended the launch of a civil society initiative called Corruption Watch. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) was credited with the idea which
Does South Africa need “Corruption Watch”? A friend’s father used to love the saying “nothing comes to speakers but sound…” And we couldn’t help wondering how to make this saying relevant to the phrase “watch”? Plant it and watch it grow, perhaps! The truth is we don’t need a body to “watch” out for corruption. South Africa’s free media (we don’t know for how much longer) has been splashing corruption stories on the front pages for decades now. What South Africa needs is a full blow Corruption Crackdown initiative. We, the people demand swift investigations and arrests, immediate suspension without pay, speedy trials, and jail-time for the convicted. We don’t want public sector corruption accused to draw full salaries while they enjoy 12, 15, 18 or 24 month holidays at our expense. We don’t want deployed cadres to fight their cases all the way to the Constitutional Court because “the state will pay”. We don’t want convicted politicians to be put up in five-star hospital suites instead of doing hard time. And – we certainly don’t want convicted cadres to proudly sit in Parliament once their time is served!
A great initiative barring the hypocrisy
Online website dictionary.com defines hypocrisy as “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behaviour does not conform.” Unfortunately our leaders ooze hypocrisy. A fantastic example of this would be the “teaming up” of the African National Congress (ANC) ruling party and Cosatu to squash one of the country’s most effective corruption-busting units. They were at the forefront of the initiative to disband the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), better known as the Scorpions. Cosatu’s proud submission to Parliament at the time: “We fully support government’s decision to dissolve the DSO, and note that these bills are in line with resolutions passed by both the Cosatu 9th Congress and the ANC’s Polokwane Conference.”
Suddenly the tone has changed. Why? Because public opinion has turned and being tough on corruption is now a necessity for long-term political survival! “Our political life is [becoming] polluted. Some corrupt politicians and officials build political support by bribing people to back their factions, which are no longer based on ideological differences but on who has the biggest treasure chest to dole out favours,” opined Vavi, presenting at the launch. Suddenly the ANC (and government) – the very institutions to which Vavi alludes – are clean as a whistle. “Corruption seeks to extinguish the flame that shines on all South Africans, the flame that promises freedom and security for all, the flame of democracy,” ranted Radebe, also at the launch. “Corruption is a criminal act that steals the fruit of our struggle, and we must declare it our enemy as apartheid was.” What? The difference between Apartheid and corruption is that the latter has infiltrated the liberation organisation’s (and now government’s) rank and file.
Too many skeletons
There are too many skeletons in our leaders’ closets for us to take their anti-corruption posturing seriously. How many of you remember the Mail & Guardian story about a R120 000 bribe being offered to one of their reporters in return for “shutting up”? Back then Vavi’s wife was working at a financial institution for a hefty salary (plus commission). Her job was to secure “direct and indirect business” with union bodies NUM and Numsa. And although Vavi insisted there was no conflict of interest in this arrangement his wife resigned the position soon after.
Radebe has problems too. He has been widely criticised for his part – as advisor to the President – in the overturned appointment of Menzi Simelane as head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The decision to appoint Mogoeng Mogoeng as chief justice of the Constitutional Court is also held up as a ‘legal advice’ blunder. These concerns aside Radebe is among the government cohort that voted in favour of the Protection of State Information Bill, which will criminalise the very whistle-blowers that Corruption Watch hopes to attract. When asked to comment on this irony the ministers did what all good ministers do – he simply ducked the issue and referred journalists to the safety and security ministry.
Against this backdrop the ANC response to the formation of Corruption Watch is worrying. “It is our held view that if crime and corruption is not firmly attended to, it has the potential to reverse our hard won democratic gains,” noted ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu. “We call upon Cosatu and all South Africans to blow the whistle against crime and corruption committed in both the public as well as in the private sector. This will ensure that this scourge of crime and corruption is uprooted completely in our society.” Let’s hold thumbs the Corruption Watch initiative doesn’t become a tool in the hands of the corruptors… Heaven forbid government trots out this initiative as proof of the country’s hard stance against corruption. They can only do so once Corruption Watch achieves a few high profile corruption convictions.
Editor’s thoughts: The evidence published in South Africa’s leading daily and weekly newspapers would provide enough leads to keep a Corruption Crackdown initiative running for decades! And we doubt the current judicial system has the capacity to process even a fraction of the alleged abuses… Should we dismiss Corruption Watch as a smokescreen to distract the public while the looting of state coffers continues? Or is it a step in the right direction? Please add your comment below, or send it to gareth@fanews.co.za
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