Can the Government’s anti-corruption entity plans win the war on corruption?
28 November 2022
Possibly in an attempt to pre-empt grey-listing, the Government has in principle embraced the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Entity (ACE) of the kind that the Constitutional Court has already prescribed in binding terms. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced a range of plans to overhaul the Government’s anti-corruption strategy, and to ensure prosecutors’ independence, but will these measures be effective in rooting out corruption and ensuring the criminals are prosecuted?
If Government is going to get real about tackling serious corruption, there are a few facts and legal considerations that need to be considered. The decisions of the Constitutional Court in the Glenister litigation of 2011, are binding on government, yet they have never been properly implemented despite their loud and clear requirements.
In terms of the ruling, the Government is obliged to create a reformed anti-corruption entity that meets five key criteria, namely that it is specialised, trained, independent, resourced, and secure in tenure of office.These binding criteria set by the highest court in the land have become known by the acronym STIRS.
We are still without such an entity at present. Neither the Hawks nor the NPA, comprehensively meet these requirements.