A powerful new squad that would put the corrupt to flight

14 January 2018 - 00:00 By Paul Hoffman

It is a well-established feature of the human condition that too many of our species will act corruptly if they think that they can get away with it.
In South Africa the high levels of private and public sector corruption, the fears of state capture by the venal, and the execution of a silent coup by the greedy have occupied the headlines during the last of the Zuma years. Addressing the human rights violations involved in the diversion of public funds away from proper service delivery to the pockets of the corrupt has become a major preoccupation.
It is undeniable that one of the major causes of rampant corruption is the dysfunctional state of our criminal justice administration. Police management is shot through with personnel on the take; the last three national commissioners all ended their careers in disgrace: Selebi in prison for corruption, Cele removed from office for serious maladministration, and Phiyega impaled on her own perjury-riddled attempted Marikana cover-up.The Hawks were born in infamy: a scrawny substitute for the much more muscular Scorpions, who were closed down for their efficiency in dealing with the politically well-connected in high places. The Hawks' independence has always been questionable and their work rate has always been a fraction of that achieved by the Scorpions. It is necessary to address the puny efforts of the Hawks in a legal and constitutionally compliant fashion if the combating of corruption is to be improved.
Instead of so doing, the Zuma administration has illegally created a monstrosity called the Anti-Corruption Task Team to attend to cases of corruption involving more than R5-million. This step has usurped the legislated mandate of the Hawks and has been less than successful due to a lack of co-ordination and resources.
The task team has not run a criminal trial, other than those plea-bargained away, since its formation in 2010. Creating the task team illegally ignores the binding findings of the Constitutional Court that there should be a single dedicated entity that specialises independently in dealing with corruption.
Corruption increases exponentially as the incompetence of the Hawks plumbs the depths of the slough of despond. Imagine persecuting Pravin Gordhan.The Hawks have never targeted any big fish (other than Gordhan), nor have they successfully prosecuted those involved in procurement irregularities, arms deals, nuclear shenanigans or the selling of public service positions. It has been left to civil society to take on the task of ensuring consistency with the constitution in the way state-owned enterprises are run, the criminal justice system is led, and the Hawks operate.
The striking off of rogue prosecutors, the dismissal of unfit personnel and the review of administrative action that falls short of constitutional muster have been necessitated due to the perfidy that characterises the Zuma years.
The task team and the special "state-capture investigation team" that the new brooms in Luthuli House are reportedly considering are attempts to treat symptoms of corruption without addressing the cause. The culture of impunity for corrupt activities will continue until those considering corruption as a career option are persuaded that they will be caught, investigated, prosecuted and punished appropriately after a fair trial.
It is not helpful to hanker after the Scorpions; they were vulnerable to closure at the whim of a simple majority in parliament and were dissolved to protect Zuma and others. If they were to rise from their ashes, the same fate could await them in the future. It is also not possible - due to the high levels of dysfunction in the criminal justice administration and the capture of the NPA by Team Zuma - to revert to the troika system in which specialised prosecutors, police investigators and forensic experts collaborated...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.