Official corruption a major problem for SA – Nepad

A report on the FIN24 site says the African Peer Review Mechanism report, which will be presented to heads of state at an African Union summit in Ethiopia on Sunday, places official corruption among SA’s biggest problems. South Africans ‘are opposed to this creeping corruption and feel betrayed, regarding corruption as a negation of democratic gains after a long period of struggle’, the report said, noting there was special concern over the provision of social services such as housing. While acknowledging that SA’s political system allows for free and fair elections, it urged the country ‘to find creative ways of making MPs more accountable to the electorate and less to the party hierarchy’. The African peer review is part of the continent\'s economic rescue plan, the New Partnerships for Africa\'s Development (Nepad), which seeks to promote democracy and good governance in Africa to attract foreign investments needed to reduce poverty. Full FIN24 report

In what looks like a case of ‘follow my leader’, the ruling ANC has been exposed as being riddled with corruption. Carol Paton in the cover story in the latest Financial Mail says there is no scientific measure of how bad corruption in SA really is. But, she says, ANC Secretary General Kgalema Motlanthe has a better view than most – and he believes corruption is far worse than anyone imagines. ‘This rot is across the board. It\'s not confined to any level or any area of the country. Almost every project is conceived because it offers opportunities for certain people to make money. A great deal of the ANC\'s problems is occasioned by this. There are people who want to take it (the ANC) over so they can arrange for the appointment of those who will allow them possibilities for future accumulation,’ he says. Bending the rules, says Motlanthe, becomes a culture when people lower down see that higher-ups do it. Fights over who should get what contract are happening with growing frequency countrywide. Paton notes that this is a matter of embarrassment to the ANC, a party many members proudly think of in terms of its struggle legacy. That legacy is now being severely undermined, and the party seems paralysed. Once local ANC meetings were all about policies and strategies – the transformation of SA society according to the ideals the party championed for decades. Now these gatherings are frequently preoccupied with business opportunities and who should have access to them. Paton says trouble started for the ANC almost as soon as it took power, with squabbles over control of provincial structures. But it was only when politicians moved into the world of business that the competition for commercial opportunities began to dominate ANC dynamics. Full Financial Mail report

Tony Yengeni has a point when he says ‘the problem in this country is not with me or Zuma. The problem is poverty.’ This is the view of the head of the Institute of Security Studies Corruption and Governance Programme, Hennie van Vuuren, who writes in Business Day that if we are serious about tackling corruption this year, SA has bigger fish to fry than a former freedom fighter and hero foolish enough to cast shame on his party in pursuit of a shiny German SUV. He says that the continued unequal distribution of ownership in the economy fuels corrupt activity and if we are to continue to keep corruption in check we need to tackle inequality and keep a close eye on wheeler-dealer politicians and the corporate tycoons with whom they tee off at the local country club. Full Business Day report

Van Vuuren notes that there are several areas that remain particularly vulnerable to corruption and scandal this year. The most obvious is the arms deal, notes the Pretoria News. Britain\'s Serious Fraud Office is already investigating the payment by British Aerospace of R1bn in commissions to secure contracts in SA’s arms deal. Van Vuuren said this was also likely to be a year of another trial for former Deputy President Jacob Zuma, with indications that others will also be implicated. Corruption charges against Zuma were struck off the roll last year but may be brought again as the NPA has continued its investigation. After the arms industry, construction was one of the most corrupt sectors in the world, Van Vuuren said. The provision of infrastructure in SA for the 2010 World Cup might present opportunities for rogue elements wanting a piece of the action. The third area vulnerable to corruption was the provision of basic services, a challenge for the government that offered elements in the political and economic elite the opportunity to steal from the poor, Van Vuuren said. Full Pretoria News report

ANC sleaze is an issue raised by DA leader Tony Leon. He says Parliament’s constitutional role is that of the representative of the people and its constitutionally entrenched function is to frame, debate and pass laws and offer a check on executive power, But, he writes in his latest Internet column, the gathering impression is that sleaze is besmirching Parliament and that its teeth are being pulled. The Mail & Guardian Online reports that referring to Travelgate – the travel-voucher scam – he said: ‘Fully 32 MPs accepted plea bargains, effectively admitting guilt and agreeing to pay fines. While some of the early ANC plea-bargainers were fired, the ANC has yet to take action against the latest offenders.’ Full Mail & Guardian Online report Tony Leon’s article

Allegations surrounding the arms deal continue to be a thorn in the ruling party’s side. Britain’s Attorney-General is the latest to join the chorus calling for a thorough probe into the alleged bribery of foreign official, including South Africans, in securing contracts from BAE Systems. The Star says Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing increasing pressure to reveal his role in the SA arms deal. It is only now emerging that Blair allegedly acted on behalf of BAE, and exerted his political influence. Full report in The Star

Nobody wants to deal with it in SA, though. A request from the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) this week to assist in a formal inquiry into the controversial weapons transactions has been passed to a fifth successive state organ in SA ‘like a hot potato’, this time from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) back to the police. This, notes a report in The Witness, is despite the police having decided earlier that they are not suited to deal with the request. The SFO inquiry into corruption in the arms deal involving 24 Hawk jet trainers was described by experts yesterday as ‘a hot potato’ because no SA authority has come up with anything on it in seven months. The SFO were not aware yesterday that their request had been handed back for reconsideration to the police division for serious economic offences. Full report in The Witness

The Travelgate scandal is also not going away. Disgraced former ANC Chief Whip Mbulelo Goniwe, already facing claims for non-payment of maintenance, is among more than 200 former and sitting MPs who are being sued for money they owe Parliament relating to the Travelgate scam. Summonses were being issued by liquidators in three stages, and related to amounts MPs and former MPs owed Parliament for the misuse of their parliamentary travel vouchers through the liquidated Bathong Travel, said lawyer Brendan Olivier, of Fairbridges, who represents the liquidators, in a report in Business Day. Olivier said most of the MPs and former MPs had apparently ignored requests over a 12-month period to come forward and provide information to the liquidators that would help them recoup the money owed to Parliament as part of the R38m Travelgate scam. Olivier said that while more than 70 summonses involving R3.5m had been issued, an additional 130 summonses were expected to be issued soon. Full Business Day report

The political future of Travelgate fraudsters is in the melting pot. A multi-party disciplinary committee, established to determine the fate of nine convicted Travelgate fraudsters still serving as MPs, is expected to conclude its recommendations next week. It will then move on to the issue of 12 MPs who were implicated in the saga, but not prosecuted, says the Cape Times. The committee, under the leadership of National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, met on Thursday and is expected to meet again on February 2. All the convicted MPs received sentences of no more than 12 months in jail without an option of a fine, which allows them to retain their seats in terms of the Constitution. Full Cape Times report