In his State of the Nation address, delivered with the election in mind, President Cyril Ramaphosa said “all those responsible” must be held to account. (Dwayne Sr./Bloomberg via Getty Images)
WWith elections looming, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday vowed to waste no time in rooting out massive corruption in what could be his last State of the Union address if the ANC loses its majority.
President Ramaphosa said state capture was perhaps the worst scourge South Africa had faced since democracy, and while it had been his government's top priority, he acknowledged that “much more” needed to be done to combat it. .
“We will not stop until all those responsible for corruption are held accountable. We will not stop until all the stolen money is recovered,” he said. “We will not stop until corruption becomes history.”
This was a low-key attempt to revive the renewal promise that gained widespread support when he took office in 2018, but the government has failed to deliver.
So far, no one has been convicted in any major state capture case, and the Zondo Commission of Inquiry has said that senior government and party officials should face criminal investigation for accepting bribes from Bosasa. It was judged.
President Ramaphosa moved to this topic at the beginning of his speech after listing global events that had affected South Africa, saying, “There have been times when events at home have shaken the foundations of our constitutional democracy. The damage was caused during the state occupation.
“For a decade, people at the highest levels of the nation have conspired with individuals to take over and repurpose state-owned enterprises, law enforcement agencies, and other public institutions.”
The real tragedy of that scandal was that the money that was supposed to provide services to the people was swallowed up.
“Billions of rands that were supposed to meet the needs of ordinary South Africans were
Stolen. Confidence in our country has been severely damaged.Public institutions were serious
It weakened.
“The effects of state occupation continue to be felt throughout society;
Public services are collapsing due to the decline in the performance of freight locomotives.
From power plants to failed development projects. ”
Stopping it, he continued, was “one of the most important challenges” the government had to address.
“Our top priority was to decisively stop state capture and dismantle the criminals.”
Strengthen networks in the state to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. We had to do so to restore our institutions and rebuild our economy. ”
He said great care had been taken to strengthen the country's investigative capabilities, particularly by establishing the Directorate General of Investigation within the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). He reiterated that the Directorate-General, which was initially established for a limited period to further incorporate the Zondo Commission's recommendations, would become a permanent entity.
“Great progress has been made in bringing those responsible for state capture to justice. More than 200 defendants have been indicted. Many more are under investigation.”
Prosecutors have been heavily criticized in recent months after humiliating court setbacks in two high-profile state capture cases.
In April last year, close associates of the Gupta brothers were granted immunity under section 174 in the Nulane Investments case, and in December a money laundering case against former Eskom chief executive Mashera Koko was filed for undue delay. Canceled.
Lawyers familiar with the state capture case say the case is falling apart as the National Police Agency is under pressure to bring high-profile suspects to justice and rush to court before investigations are complete.
