Zondo and SACC urge immediate action as South Africa's corruption crisis escalates

The Star

7 days ago

Siyabonga Sithole | Published 5 hours ago
With the country's anti-corruption fight reflecting a worrying trend, former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and the South African Council of Churches (SACC) have voiced their widespread condemnation of South Africa's endemic graft, which has now reached critical crisis levels.
This comes on the back of a high number of high-profile corruption-related arrests implicating some of the country's leading political figures.
The SACC stated that pastors who live and show off their lavish lifestyles at the expense of poor congregants are no different from corrupt politicians.
This is as the SACC continues to reflect on the scourge as part of its National Anti-Corruption conference currently under way in Johannesburg. Opposition political parties and analysts have weighed in on the country's dismal attempts at reigning in the scourge.
Zondo, speaking during his address to the conference's delegates on Wednesday, indicated that the bending of rules to favour certain important people was at the heart of the country's corruption problem.
"We bend the rules when we have done something wrong because that has happened when it should not have happened. The church must be the one that leads us. It must tell the rest of us not to bend the rules. The rules apply to everybody," he stated.
Zondo also questioned the resolution taken by the ANC in 2007 to disband the Scorpions in favour of the Hawks, currently tasked with investigating high-profile cases.
The Activists and Citizens Forum, through its spokesperson, Denis Bloem, said corruption will be hard to beat as long as the ANC still holds power.
"The country believed that under former president Jacob Zuma's administration, corruption was at its peak. However, the country was mistaken. Corruption is worse now and out of control under President Cyril Ramaphosa's administration.
" The reason why there is no end to corruption is that the government is infiltrated by criminals masquerading as political leaders. Meanwhile, they are the biggest thieves.
"General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told the country a few weeks ago that the South African Police Service is infiltrated by criminal syndicates and that some politicians are also on the payroll of these syndicates. Activists and Citizens Forum believe that corruption will not end as long as the ANC is in power. We know this so-called Government of National Unity is just a rubber stamp for the ANC," said Bloem.
Reflecting on the excessive levels of corruption and fraud in the country, Rise Mzansi national spokesperson, Mabine Seabe, said the country's problems are not new, adding that all societies are affected by corruption.
"Corruption is not a recent phenomenon, nor is it unique to a particular sector of society. What is of alarming concern is that it has taken hold of every aspect of life, where almost every service requires or can be extracted through corrupt means. The Zondo Commission illustrated the industrial nature of corruption with both the private and public sectors lubricating corrupt actions," he said.
As for the recent bombshell by KZN Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Mkhwanazi, which has implicated senior politicians and the SAPS, Seabe welcomed the recently established Judicial Commission of Inquiry to look into the criminal elements in the country's political elite and the police.
"Moreover, the allegations made by Lieutenant-General Mkhwanazi point to a nexus between powerful elites and organised crime.
"We believe that the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry and Parliament's Ad Hoc Committee to probe Mkhwanazi's allegations are well-placed to probe the alleged collapse and capture of South Africa's safety, security, and justice apparatus; hold those responsible accountable; and recommend the necessary reforms," Seabe added.
Attempts to get a comment from the ANC, which has been accused of failing to root out corruption among its leaders, were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.
However, this week, ANC Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula, addressed the recent developments affecting Senzo Mchunu during the ANC's National Working Committee (NWC) meeting with the Provincial Executive Committee, saying the party welcomed Ramaphosa's decision to establish a judicial commission of inquiry to probe the allegations against Mchunu.
"Senzo Mchunu has an opportunity now, in terms of the audi alteram partem principle, to also present his side of the story . Once we listen to that, it is also evaluated in terms of facts by a competent, independent judge, and a judicial commission, like the president appointed, then we can pass judgment," he said.
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