If elections were to be held today, political parties would be well advised to focus on one key issue: fighting corruption.
According to polling company Ipsos’ “What worries the world” report, conducted last month, 47% of South Africans chose financial/political corruption as a concern, confirming the trend of the past few years.
Perhaps this could be one of the central questions the national dialogue could address: what can South Africans do to put an end to the corruption gripping our society, which directly affects the lives of all South Africans through poor service delivery and insufficient allocations to vitally needed public investment, threatening the social net government has put in place? It is the cause of much public indignation and anger, and is beginning to define the very moral fibre of our nation.
While public attention is focused on the shenanigans and lavish lifestyle of the rich and powerful, research by Armed Conflict Location & Event Data alerts us to another alarming trend: from July 2018 to June 2025 seven national officials and 148 local officials were murdered. Almost all of them were whistle-blowers, or were involved in procurement decisions, audits or forensic investigations.
The other two major worries South Africans identified in the survey — the economy and unemployment — are proving difficult to ameliorate. However, the past few weeks’ developments indicate that we may finally be seeing green shoots in the gargantuan struggle against corruption.
On July 28 the presidency released an update on the actions undertaken thus far in response to the recommendations of the Zondo state capture commission, appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa. It indicated that of the 60 actions identified, 48% are complete or substantially complete, 23% are on track and 29% are delayed but receiving attention.
The National Prosecuting Authority is implementing 218 criminal investigation recommendations across multiple state capture focus areas, with four trials already completed, with guilty verdicts. The presidency report indicates that nearly R11bn in stolen public funds has been recovered, including recoveries from commercial entities such as McKinsey and SAP.
While the appointment of Firoz Cachalia as police minister attracted much attention and even raised the level of hope about the fight against crime and corruption, it overshadowed the work he was completing as chair of the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council. It had submitted its report to parliament well before the council’s term ends on August 31.
At the core of its recommendations is the principle that while “law enforcement is fundamentally important, it is an insufficient deterrent to corruption”. It therefore places huge emphasis on public education and mobilisation, behaviour change activities, and investigating systemic corruption with binding remedies and civil asset recovery. It recommends the establishment of an office of public integrity as a statutory Chapter 9 body incorporating the Special Investigating Unit.
There was much wringing of hands when Ramaphosa announced the judicial commission of inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system, arising from the allegations made public by police Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on July 6, with justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga as its chair.
Lawson Naidoo of the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution has advised that this commission “must determine what evidence or information is relevant to discharging its mandate. It must not allow the kind of political grandstanding and meaningless cross-examination of witnesses that we saw from some counsel at the Zondo inquiry”. Political parties like MK are already sharpening their axes and spears to do battle around this inquiry.
Another critical but underreported development was the announcement by Ramaphosa at the end of the ANC’s national executive committee meeting about the work done by its integrity commission. Meant to address the ethics of the organisation, the committee processed its reports and Ramaphosa has vowed to take its recommendations forward.
All these political and judicial steps will come to naught if they are not supported by public action towards higher levels of morality, shunning any temptation to engage in corruption and exposing those who do.
• Abba Omar is director of operations at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.