Rotten apples cannot be turned into fresh ones
“Review, reform, renew, redress, restructure.” Just how many times have we received this repetitive rhetoric from President Cyril Ramaphosa, his cabinet colleagues and his ANC cadre deployees? (“Three senior Idac allies of Andrea Johnson suspended after testimony”, July 30).
Last week the justice minister and the national director of public prosecutions promised us all of these actions in respect of their collapsed Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac). A new directorate would be born and the process will take only six months!
So this presidentially appointed nationally embarrassing agency ― formed to address one of South Africa’s most destructive problems ― is to be revived and rise Phoenix-like from its ashes after a mere 24 months of existence.
Deliberately ignoring a 2021 Constitutional Court order to establish an independent anticorruption body outside the control of the executive, Ramaphosa has repeatedly created his own version of what institution can best effectively fight the corruption that has been plaguing our country and looting its coffers for decades.
The circumvention of that order has subjected South Africans to successive anticorruption bodies including the Scorpions’ successor, the Hawks, National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council, the Special Tribunal operating through the Special Investigating Unit, Idac, and the Office of Public Integrity.
It all sounds impressive, but the reality is that corruption levels in South Africa are as high as they have ever been. The country could have been spared all of this if the government had simply complied with the Constitutional Court order in the first place.
In the absence of proven criminal intent, the government may not be guilty of contempt of court, but the president and his successive cabinets are certainly guilty of failing the nation with their dubious policies, processes and appointments.
David Gant
Kenilworth
Systemic failures responsible for SA’s sporting decline
I agree with David Isaacson (“Team SA’s 11th spot finish in Glasgow highlights country’s decaying sports ecosystem”, August 2).
Our total medal haul at the Commonwealth Games was just 28, of which 22 came from swimming, four from athletics and two from judo. Overall, Team South Africa finished 11th on the medal table — our lowest placing since 1994.
Isaacson explains how the truncated games, poor administration, deteriorating facilities and a lack of political will all undermined South Africa’s performance. He concludes that our medal winners succeeded “despite a broken system”. It is difficult to disagree.
However, the problem extends beyond the Commonwealth Games and reflects the broader state of South African sport. Alongside New Zealand, South Africa has long been one of rugby union’s great powers. Our cricketers have kept South Africa as one of the leading nations across all formats of the game, while our golfers have consistently produced world-class champions.
However, beyond those sports South Africa often underperforms on the international stage. Having lived in Australia for the past three years I have watched with admiration the breadth of that country’s sporting success.
Australia is a wealthy nation with outstanding facilities, coaching and development structures, and there are remarkably few sports in which it does not excel. It has won two Rugby World Cups despite rugby union ranking behind rugby league and Australian Rules football in popularity.
At these Commonwealth Games Australia won 171 medals, despite having less than half South Africa’s population. Population is, of course, only one factor, and comparisons are imperfect given the vast differences in economic resources, investment, infrastructure and sporting culture. Nevertheless, the contrast is striking.
There were notable exceptions where individual participants ensured our national flag was always flying high. By any reasonable measure though, South Africa underperformed. Until we address the systemic failures identified by Isaacson, we should not expect significantly better results.
David Wolpert
Sydney, Australia
Mbeki presidency had more cons than pros
Tara Roos’s most recent column refers (“Evaluating SA’s presidents by the strength of the state they left behind”, July 31).
As a trained economist Thabo Mbeki managed the economy of South Africa far better than any other ANC president. However, he seriously mismanaged HIV/Aids and relations with Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.
He also let Jacob Zuma and corrupt national police commissioner Jackie Selebi off the hook. And he suspended a competent National Prosecuting Authority head, Vusi Pikoli, who was investigating criminal charges against Zuma and Selebi.
These actions enabled state capture under Zuma and hamstrung the country’s prosecuting authority for decades thereafter. Later, Selebi was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. Later still, he was, of course, released on “medical” parole.
Bernhard Scheffler
Via Business Day online
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