EDITORIAL: Living on edge as crooks and killers walk among us

SA was barely digesting the departure of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was buried on New Year’s Day, marking a symbolic end of an era as the country lost one of the few remaining members of a generation that made democracy possible. The next day one of the symbols of that democracy, its parliament building, was on fire.

The true cost of the physical damage and whether the building will be restored to play its role is still to be determined. The fire may have nothing to do with politics, but that this could not be taken for granted shows the lasting damage of events of July 2021.

The nation’s psyche and confidence has been shaken, not just by the physical violence inflicted by assumed supporters of former president Jacob Zuma, but by the lack of consequences for those responsible for more than 300 deaths. That impunity — and the accompanying danger that they will hit again — means the country is consistently on edge and braced for the next attack.

Perpetrators of state capture during the Zuma era probably felt similarly emboldened when acting chief justice Raymond Zondo released his initial report on the phenomenon.

The reactions to the report were varied, from those left open mouthed by its revelations to those who felt this was nothing but a confirmation of what had long been known. It would still take a certain degree of cynicism not to be taken aback by the disdain for the country’s laws and institutions by the likes of Dudu Myeni, the chair under whose watch SAA was laid to waste.

An accomplice who emerged in the report was former board member Yakhe Kwinana, with Zondo going into great detail explaining how they inflicted “sustained” damage on the airline and, among other things, made up BEE policies on the fly. There is a detailed account of how money flowed, allegedly via Myeni’s son, from the state’s coffers to a foundation named after Zuma.

Perhaps the least shocking will be the commentary on the role of Bain and Tom Moyane, the former commissioner of the SA Revenue Service (Sars), in the destruction of the country’s once world-class tax agency. Much of this was covered by retired judge Robert Nugent in his commission, which finished its work in 2018.

What is disappointing about the Zondo report is that its recommendations seem weak compared with the detail of wrongdoing. Does the acting chief justice really believe that perjury is all that Moyane was guilty of? What about Vittorio Massone, the former partner at Bain who was said to have met Zuma about 17 times? According to Zondo, Bain was central to the conspiracy and not an innocent consultancy that saw its work abused by Sars insiders.  

Towards the end of 2021, the country was shocked by the news that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was losing one of its main leaders, Hermione Cronje, the head of the Investigating Directorate. That brought to the fore weaknesses in the organisation, which has managed not a single successful prosecution of a big figure involved in corruption since Ramaphosa came to power in 2018.

And when Zondo says that it should be left to the same NPA to pursue cases, then it’s understandable that the reaction has been one of deflation rather than elation. Strengthening the NPA and going after culprits named in the Zondo report is the least that needs to happen to restore confidence.

If some cases are more complex and politically sensitive than others, then start with the low-hanging fruit. It’s unlikely anyone is going to be burning the country down because NPA head Shamila Batohi has charged Myeni with fraud and corruption..

Not that the fear of violence should play a role in the decision. Marking the anniversary of the attack on his country’s parliament a year ago, US President Joe Biden might have well been speaking of SA when he asked “are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm”?

Batohi needs to step up and quickly act on Zondo’s recommendations. The future of the republic is at stake.