PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA’S COMMISSIONS STRATEGY
It’s not unusual to hear people say “Cyril is not moving fast enough to fight and end State capture and corruption”. He should have sent so and so “to jail long ago…”
But is it that simple? And what is really happening?
One can accept President Ramaphosa’s bona fides that corruption and State capture must be stopped. He was and is on record that he is serious about it. His own actions and those of his close allies (such as Pravin Gordhan with the lifestyle audits for SOEs), testify to this.
A senior business leader recently shared with me while we were on a plane that the President estimates that there are 700 key posts in the public service occupied by Zuma confidants. So far this year, 150 better people have already been appointed, but the number that remain is still massive.
How do you get rid of the Zuma appointments in the public service? It is not easy, because the majority of them were not directly appointed by the President but by his confidants and “mischief-makers”. Because of the Rule of Law (yes, even crooks have basic rights) and labour laws, people cannot be dismissed left and right; you must follow processes. Some of these people (possibly) meet the minimum requirements for their appointments, and for each a good reason and process is necessary for dismissal. You need to uncover “something” as motivation for acting against them as individuals.