Africa-Press – South-Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa says his government has made “significant progress” in its efforts to implement the Zondo Commission’s recommendations.
He made the comment as the country marked two years since the commission heard its last testimony of damning state capture evidence.
In his weekly newsletter on Monday, Ramaphosa said he had submitted the government’s plan to implement the commission’s recommendations to Parliament in October 2022.
He added: “Since then, significant progress has been made to implement various parts of the plan. The state capture commission made 205 recommendations on the criminal investigation and possible prosecution of people and companies implicated in evidence before the commission.”
The president said nine state capture cases involving 41 accused and 12 companies were in court.
“Significant progress has also been made in recovering the proceeds of crime. Freezing orders to the value of R13 billion have been granted to the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority). A total of R5.4 billion has been traced and returned to the state. The South African Revenue Service has collected unpaid taxes as a result of evidence before the state capture commission,” he said.
But Professor Mcebisi Ndletyana from the University of Johannesburg’s political sciences department said Ramaphosa’s views on heeding the commission’s recommendations rang “hollow” when the president had not acted against members of his executive who were implicated in the report.
Ramaphosa’s appointment of Zizi Kodwa as the sports minister after he was found to be financially “beholden” to business people raised eyebrows.
Former executives of technology company EOH, found to have received more than R400 million in state contracts after doling out R11 million to the ANC and its senior members, have yet to face criminal charges for what the commission found were contraventions of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act.
Testifying at the commission, Kodwa admitted having received “no strings attached” loans from former EOH director Jehan Mackay after suffering “financial difficulties”, with the inquiry finding that the minister was “never in a position to repay” the amounts.
Zondo’s report read:
Kodwa rejected the commission’s findings in April last year while he was the Deputy Minister of State Security.
Ndletyana, using Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe’s legal challenge to the commission’s findings as an example, said there was no apparent “restraint” for Ramaphosa to heed Zondo’s call for action against Kodwa.
Mantashe announced in August last year that he would file a legal challenge against Zondo’s recommendation that the minister be investigated for corruption after his three homes received security upgrades from controversial facilities firm, Bosasa.
Ndletyana said it was understandable for Ramaphosa to wait before implementing those recommendations legally.
“Where there are no legal challenges, then the president’s statement that he is acting sounds hollow because they are not backed up by action,” he asserted.
In his newsletter, Ramaphosa said new laws and legislative amendments would strengthen the government’s efforts in fighting graft and “making the abuse of political power a criminal offence”.
“The state capture commission also made recommendations about the establishment of additional anti-corruption bodies. These proposals are being considered as part of a broader review of the country’s anti-corruption architecture,” the president said.
“Part of this work is being led by the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council, which is working across society to build ethical values and mobilise the nation against corruption,” Ramaphosa added.
Recent high-profile losses in criminal court cases stemming from the inquiry’s findings seemingly contradict the president’s assertions that the state is primed to hold the corrupt and their beneficiaries “accountable for their actions” and “recover stolen money”.
The NPA suffered another setback last week with the acquittal of former North West Hawks General Jan Mabula of kidnapping, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and extortion.
Mabula was implicated at the inquiry in trying to fabricate evidence against former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Johan Booysen in the alleged extrajudicial killings allegedly committed by officers under Booysen in the province’s Cato Manor region.
Mabula, alongside seven co-accused, was acquitted in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
In April, the NPA failed to get a conviction against Gupta family associate Iqbal Sharma, whose company Nulane Investments was accused of siphoning R25 million from the Free State government.
Sharma’s fraud and corruption charges were dismissed in April, and the NPA lost a leave to appeal application two weeks ago in the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein.
Although Acting Judge Nompumelelo Gusha found that the Free State government had lost R25 million through corruption, the court found that the NPA could not prove where the money went.
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