Ramaphosa’s message to South Africa about corruption
President Cyril Ramaphosa says that South Africans understandably want to see more action taken to root out corruption, including more arrests and prosecutions, but a lot of work is happening behind the scenes, without public fanfare.
The state has faced intense criticism of its handling of corruption and the findings of the State Capture Commission in particular.
Established in 2018 and running for three years to December 2021, the State Capture Commission flagged widespread and entrenched corruption within the state, amounting to billions of rands.
This included kickback schemes and rent extraction at state-owned companies, tender fraud and contracts linked to politically-connected people and organisations.
Over 1,500 people were implicated in state capture by the commission. However, very few arrests have been made, and even fewer successful prosecutions.
Ramaphosa has also faced criticism for having some of those implicated in the State Capture Commission’s findings serving in his cabinet and within government.
However, writing his weekly letter to the public, the president stressed that the fight against corruption in South Africa is about more than putting people in jail.
It entails complete institutional reform to dismantle the systems that have enabled corruption to flourish, he said.
Ramaphosa said that progress is being made to do just this.
“While there is a justifiable public expectation that there should be more convictions – including of those implicated in state capture – fighting corruption extends way beyond putting culprits in the dock.”
The president said that corruption is much more than the criminal intent of a few individuals and can become embedded in state institutions or business enterprises.
This manifests in practices and organisational culture. The real success in fighting corruption then lies in preventing it in the first place, whether in state companies, businesses or organs of civil society.
In terms of arrests, though, he pointed out that this is also happening.
Pointing to presentations made by the Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), progress is being made with investigations into state companies.
This includes the South African Post Office, Postbank and the South African Social Security Agency, financial irregularities at water entities, an allegedly corrupt fuel tender, and graft at a number of municipalities.
“This year has seen a number of arrests linked to alleged corruption in Eskom, the South African Police Service, Transnet and in municipalities,” he said.
“While allegations of corruption within these important institutions are deeply disturbing, it is encouraging that they have been detected and that criminal action is being taken.”
Long overdue reforms
Ramaphosa pointed to other reforms currently underway to tackle the State Capture Commission’s recommendations directly, albeit three years after they were made.
The National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council (NACAC) handed over its final report at the conclusion of its three-year term.
The council was set up in 2022 to guide the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and to strengthen the state’s anti-corruption architecture.
Three years later, the council’s report recommended that a permanent, independent, overarching anti-corruption body be established.
The body should be known as the Office of Public Integrity and Anti-Corruption and its mandate should be to prevent, investigate and remedy systemic corruption, the council said.
Ramaphosa said that the proposed body would be expected to both fight corruption and prevent it from happening in the first place.
“The report also makes recommendations on the strengthening and coordination of law enforcement agencies, enhanced coordination mechanisms among the different law enforcement agencies, the use of Artificial Intelligence to prevent corruption and the establishment of an anti-corruption data sharing framework,” he said.
These recommendations will be reviewed by the relevant government institutions for tabling and deliberation in cabinet, the president said.
“The fight against corruption is complex, multi-faceted and protracted. This fight requires the dismantling systems of patronage that have become entrenched over many years.
“It requires strengthening state capacity to handle complex cases and closing regulatory loopholes that have enabled corruption to flourish.”
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