In a recent Sunday Times article (20 March), Sipho Pityana, former Director General of the Department of Labour, now businessman and founder of Casac (Council for the Advancement of the Constitution) calls on the public to join him in his anti-corruption campaign, to promote clean governance and ethical conduct by those who occupy positions of power and influence in both the public and private sectors.
Casac proposes "the establishment of an independent statutory agency whose three-pronged mandate would be to educate the public about corruption; investigate all forms of corruption big and small, fearlessly and without favour; and devise strategies to prevent corruption."
Casac demands, furthermore, "that visible, decisive, clear and resolute steps be taken to end corruption wherever it occurs." Obviously referring to the President Jacob Zuma and his sordid connection to the ubiquitous Guptas, he says that despite the rhetoric of zero tolerance against corruption, "all too often there is cover-up and obfuscation."
I have written many columns against corruption but somehow I feel resentful of this initiative when I should be supporting it. The reason is to be found on the opposite side of the page of this same newspaper.
If ever there is cover-up and obfuscation it is from his colleague and founder member of Casac, former Speaker of Parliament Frene Ginwala. Interviewed by Chris Barron in his usually refreshing, no holds barred manner, he asks Ginwala all the right questions about her role when the corrosive Arms Deal, the controversial matter of the Scorpions and the cloak and dagger cover-up of the Travel Scandal, were brought before Parliament.
Her responses epitomize the obfuscation Pityana campaigns against. Defensive and blatantly evasive, she takes no responsibility for her partisanship under Mbeki's rule, and for keeping the lid on all these scandals that erupted under her leadership of Parliament. Even her attempts to shut up then MP Patricia De Lille exploded in her face with a court ruling.
Under former President Mbeki's rule the seeds of corruption took root and the plants now flourish under Zuma. The Stalinist language of the National Democratic Revolution, ANC control of the levers of power, cadre deployment and the Native club provided fertile ground for crony capitalism through black economic empowerment, nepotism and "tenderpreneurship" to embed themselves firmly within the body politic of South Africa.
Chis Barron's questions to Ginwala on the Scorpions, the arms deal, the travel scandal reveals a Speaker who will duck and dive the truth regardless of the evidence before us. Chris Barron: "...Travelgate. Did the failure to act strongly against those MPs send the wrong message about the government's attitude to corruption?"
Ginwala: "Let me say what I, what we did. The presiding officers at the time called the Scorpions in. Whether people plea-bargained or not is not something I can comment on." Chris Barron: "Did Travelgate send a message that government was not serious about corruption?" Ginwala: "Look all parties were involved. People are focusing on a particular one. ... The problem with corruption is that, instead of looking at it as a national effort, we've allowed it to become a party-political issue. And the politicians are not the only corrupt people......" Yada yada yada!
Ginwala equivocates throughout this interview, protecting the ANC - which is the most corrupt party in the country - to the hilt. No one doubts that business is equally corrupt. Just come clean for heaven's sake then we know we can move forward!
For Casac to succeed and recruit people like me, Ginwala and her ilk need to come forward with some robust truth-telling. The previous regime of which Ginwala was a powerful member needs to come clean about their role in embedding an endemic culture of looting the treasury for personal gain.
The free-for-all state theft of the country's resources under Zuma, which continues unabated, started with the Elephant Consortium, Pamodze, the Telkom and Arms deals, and the relentless looting of the Land Bank.
Ginwala's defensiveness makes her unfit to hold office in such an organization and to me her involvement looks like sour grapes that Jacob Zuma rather than Thabo Mbeki has control of the economy. What we need is a Truth Commission on corruption which will hold the Mbeki and Zuma administration accountable for locking up the country's economic resources in Luthuli House and Chancellor House.
Rhoda Kadalie author of In Your Face: Passionate Conversations of People and Politics, 2009. This article first appeared in Die Burger
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