How the mighty keep falling
Publish date: 19 March 2018
Issue Number: 766
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Corruption
News that former South African President Jacob Zuma will face trial on corruption charges continues to reverberate across the continent. And Legalbrief reports that Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, who is also snared in a graft scandal, this weekend threw in the towel and tendered her resignation. Zuma is only the second African head of state – after Zambia's Frederick Chiluba – to face charges of theft from the public purse (Chiluba was acquitted in 2009). For the record, former Malawian Joyce Banda has been accused of playing a role in the high-profile ‘Cashgate’ scandal which occurred during her term in office, but she has never been charged. And former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has been ordered to appear as a witness in a high-profile corruption case in Lagos but he also hasn’t been charged. Analysts say that while former kleptocrats in big African nations like Kenya and Nigeria may be guilty of siphoning off public funds, their judicial systems are too weak to have mounted the scale of operation Zuma now faces. After all, Ferial Haffajee (in a HuffPost SA analysis) notes that South Africa's theatre of accountability for corruption is now in full production. ‘One of Zuma's greatest fears ahead of leaving office was that he would face a long trial – that has now come to pass. The legal costs of Zuma's defence will be borne by the state, although opposition parties are trying to claw back costs from the former head of state. Other theatres in which the corrupt face their reckonings include a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture, with a high-powered team of commissioners led by the deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo. In addition, there are at least three different parliamentary inquiries into corruption at state-owned enterprises ongoing in Parliament. The National Prosecuting Authority, whose KwaZulu-Natal director Moipone Noko will lead Zuma's prosecution, has also opened what its spokesperson says are hundreds of files on state capture across state-owned enterprises and provincial governments. The team is primarily using asset forfeiture as a first step to weeding out corruption across the public sector. South Africa is in the midst of an unprecedented legal battle against corruption, as President Cyril Ramaphosa attempts to make good on his key ANC campaign ticket, which was based on a message of being anti-graft.’
Zuma’s lawyers will argue he had no intention to commit a crime when he and his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik met with French arms manufacturer Thales, and that he was simply following ANC policy to support black business. A Sunday Times report notes that 13 years after Shaik’s conviction, Zuma will have to answer charges relating to payments he received from his former financial adviser and Thales. When (and if) the matter finally gets to criminal court, Zuma's team will contest the merits of the case on the basis that Shaik, whose family members include long-standing friends and comrades of Zuma’s, responded to the ANC’s appeal in the early 1990s that returning exiles should be aided to reintegrate into society. The Sunday Times notes that many ANC leaders who were in exile or prison had no source of income and had to receive financial support from friends, family and benefactors. Zuma was in a particularly precarious position because of the number of children he had. He was in debt.
Mokotedi Mpshe, the National Director of Public Prosecutions who decided to withdraw the charges in April 2009, still believes his decision was correct at the time. Speaking to Radio 702 shortly after Friday’s announcement‚ Mpshe said he did not regret his decision. Mpshe was fingered as the man who got it wrong‚ and was singled out by name during current National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams’ 11-minute long announcement. ‘I was convinced at that stage that my decision was the appropriate decision and I still stand by my decision which I made then,’ Mpshe told Stephen Grootes, according to TimesLIVE. ‘The fact that it has been reversed does not make me a bad person at all. Decisions get reversed. I cannot take any responsibility for what is happening now‚’ he said.
Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned on Saturday, two days after she refused to stand down. Gurib-Fakim, Africa's only female head of state, submitted her resignation 'in the national interest', her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed said. He added it would take effect on Friday. A TimesLIVE report notes that she has vowed to fight accusations that she used a bank card provided by an NGO to make personal purchases worth at least €25 000. Gurib-Fakim, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is a scientist and biologist of international renown. BBC News reports that Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said 'the interest of the country comes first'. 'I am proud of Mauritius' image as a model of living democracy in the world,' he added. Legalbrief reports that Gurib-Fakim has also been the recipient of various international awards. These include the L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science (2007). She is the first woman elected President of the country and is the third woman to serve as head of state following Elizabeth II and Monique Ohsan Bellepeau, who acted as President in 2012 following the resignation of President Anerood Jugnauth.
