Neal Froneman, the no-nonsense CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater, who will join Remgro CEO Jannie Durand in leading a business-government initiative against crime and corruption, says they’ll set their own priorities and if there are attempts to “stonewall” them, they’ll go it alone.
“We’re very aware that certain elements may try to stonewall us but we’re designing our crime and corruption initiative so we can achieve 80% of our aims alone.”
One priority is to disrupt criminal supply chains, and business has the capacity to do that independently of the government, Froneman says.
Different business sectors such as consumer goods, banking and minerals have their own crime intelligence operations; combining them would create a formidable weapon against crime, he says.
Until now, the private sector has been sending crime intelligence reports to the police “and nothing has happened”. Using this intelligence itself will allow it to disrupt illicit supply chains on its own.
“We know who they are and we will disrupt them, we will chop them off at their knees,” Froneman says.
If business has the ability to make such a difference to crime and corruption without the state why hasn’t it done so already?
“It’s now got to such a crisis where the state has become so weak that business in every respect, not just crime and corruption, has no choice.
“We’ve reached a tipping point, and whether it’s in the area of energy, transport and logistics or crime and corruption, we are stepping up and we are going to make a difference, with or without government.”
The role of civil society will be key and business will be doing all it can to expand it, he says. “Civil society needs to step up, run municipalities, fix infrastructure. It’s hopeless waiting for government to do it. We can’t sit back and allow this to continue.”
Froneman says they have found many people in the president’s office who support their participation, but there are elements in the government who don’t and will try to undermine them.
We’re not afraid to spend money if it’s going to be effective, including on forensic laboratories and crime intelligence and so on, so we can put people in jail
— CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater, Neal Froneman
A financially empowered civil society will change that, he says. “We as business are just at the front end of doing what we’re doing on behalf of civil society. We’re going to involve and enable civil society organisations like Outa [Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse].”
Corporates will be throwing money at such groups, he says.
“We’re not afraid to spend money if it’s going to be effective, including on forensic laboratories and crime intelligence and so on, so we can put people in jail.
“The NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] desperately needs capacity, and we have the ability to step and support them without in any way impacting their independence or trying to influence their priorities.”
Offers from business to support the NPA with legal, prosecutorial and data analysis expertise have been on the table for a while, however, and have been rejected.
“The fact that you have government announcing this business-government initiative on crime and corruption the way they did has changed the climate,” says Froneman.
Business leaders have been interacting with the minister of justice & correctional services, Ronald Lamola, who is supportive of what they’re doing. “There’s a very different wind blowing at this point in time to what it was six months ago.”
Given his record, do they believe President Cyril Ramaphosa’s talk about a “shared determination” to overcome South Africa’s challenges?
The percentage of goals Neal Froneman says business’s crime and corruption initiative can achieve without government.
— IN NUMBERS: 80%
“We’re not swayed by talk, only by actions. We’re saying to him, ‘We hear you, but actions speak louder than words.’
“We’re well aware of the pitfalls and what has happened in the past, but I believe there’s a different wind blowing, there’s an air of desperation. From all of us as well as the government.”
Many believe this ANC desperation is more about winning next year’s general election than fixing a broken country.
Won’t business just be giving the government a fig leaf — the appearance of taking action — that it can market to the electorate?
“I fully understand they will use this politically to suit themselves, but I think civil society will see right through it. From the polls I’ve seen, what we’re doing is not going to be interpreted as the government suddenly having done something. The government is seen as weak and voters will vote in a much more objective way,” Froneman says.
“I don’t think we're doing anything that is going to distort voters’ feelings about the government. They are deeply depressed, like all of us, and will vote correctly.”
He says it bothers him “intensely” that while Ramaphosa talks about a “shared determination” to turn the economy around his government “continues to promote policies that drive us in the wrong direction”.
We know who they are and we will disrupt them, we will chop them off at their knees
— CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater, Neal Froneman
He says he’s aware that, depending on what happens in the elections, there could be a backlash against the private sector involvement Ramaphosa is espousing, but business can’t afford a wait-and-see approach.
“We need to be part of civil society saying ‘enough is enough’, we are going to make a difference and trust that voters will come to their senses and won’t allow such a scenario to happen. I think that’s where we are.
“Given an opportunity to make a difference I would kick myself if I didn’t try to make that difference, and demonstrate that you can fix these things when civil society hangs together and business uses its ability, competence and leverage.
“I don’t think we want to just watch it all go down the drain, which is what will happen if we do nothing.”
While the government may or may not be trying to use the private sector for its own ends, corporates won’t allow themselves to be played. Priorities and oversight will come from business, which will ensure proper project management and accountability.
“Durand and I are both very competitive, we don’t want to waste our time and we’re not going to waste our time,” Froneman says.
They won’t hesitate to read the riot act to ministers and officials who don’t deliver on what they commit to, he says. “They’re not our friends, they’re our working partners. They must do their job and we’ll do our job. If they don’t, they will be called to task.”
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