DOMINIC MAPHAKA
Durban — Assuming the presidency on the heels of his predecessor Jacob Zuma, whose tenure was characterised by widespread corruption and fraud, Cyril Ramaphosa vowed to bring a new dawn in the South African government by renewing the ANC as both a nonstate actor and the governing party.
After all, Zuma’s tenure had culminated in the establishment of the State Capture Commission to probe the nefarious practices committed during what is now described as the “nine wasted years”.
However, a glance at actual events on the ground since his appointment show that Ramaphosa’s presidency has ushered-in a new dawn of no accountability presided over by him as the president of the ANC and government.
The news that broke out recently that Ramaphosa failed to report a robbery that took place at his Phala Phala Farm in Limpopo to law enforcement agencies, and had allegedly taken the law into his own hands using state institutions such as the SAPS, suggests that South Africa is heading into such a new dawn of no accountability, presided over by the same man who had committed to renewing the state of governance in South Africa.
According to reports, burglars came into Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala Game Farm in Limpopo on February 9, 2020, and found an undisclosed amount of foreign currency hidden in couches.
The former head of the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, who disclosed the news, said that Ramaphosa’s maid contacted her brother, who knew people that could carry out the robbery.
The alleged robbers, from South Africa and neighbouring Namibia, entered through a window in the main farmhouse. Fraser, who provided a video of what appears to be two individuals climbing up a window on their knees and two more standing outside a door, said that the break-in was caught on CCTV.
The event is alleged to have been reported to the presidential protection police unit by the president, who claimed in a statement that he was away at the time.
When former State Security Agency head Fraser filed criminal charges, the incident involving the theft of foreign currency on Ramaphosa’s farm in Limpopo became public knowledge. He charged the president with kidnapping, money laundering and undermining the rule of law.
The former intelligence chief alleged that burglars broke into Ramaphosa’s office and took substantial, unknown sums of money. Then he charged President Ramaphosa for hiding what happened at the property rather than calling the police. Fraser claims that the president illegally ordered Wally Rhoode, the chief of the presidential protection unit, to investigate it.
According to allegations, Ramaphosa paid the suspects, including his domestic workers, R150 000 each to keep quiet about being kidnapped and questioned. The Phala Phala scandal has since led to calls for his resignation by opposition parties.
Among other things, his critics want him to account for foreign currency that was not reported to the SA Revenue Services (Sars) and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), suggesting that, at the very least, a financial crime was committed.
Among its effects, corruption raises the costs of doing business, discourages investors, undermines human resource development, brings inefficiency in public service delivery, and worsens inequality.
Given his commitment to curb corruption as part of measures required to reduce South Africa’s deep-seated challenges, such as poverty, inequality, and unemployment, one would expect President Ramaphosa to exercise accountability when nefarious practices of crime, fraud and corruption such as those surrounding his Phala Phala saga arise.
Public trust and confidence are at the heart of functional government and good governance. When the public have confidence in their government, they back its policies, comply with the laws and pay taxes.
In South Africa, public trust and confidence in the government have declined in both the Zuma and Ramaphosa era.
A clear illustration of the foregoing development is the ANC’s support, which has been in a downward spiral under the two presidents.
The decline is attributed to public disappointment over the government’s inefficiency and ineffectiveness in curbing corruption, crime and unemployment, among other things.
In view of Ramaphosa’s commitment to draw massive investment as part of stimulating economic growth and bringing about job creation, one would expect Ramaphosa to honour his commitment to good governance by complying with the ANC’s step aside rule by withdrawing from his position and duties entrusted to him as the South African Head of State and the Government.
Beyond creating an enabling environment for state agencies to investigate him without fear or favour, the said move by the number one citizen will set a precedent for the regeneration of the state of governance, which is in a downward spiral in South Africa.
The realities on the ground mirror that South Africa is failing to fulfil its responsibility of protecting and providing its citizens as a state, and the said development is attributed to the deterioration of the state of governance. As the ANC prepares to head to its National Elective Conference in December 2022, the party needs to avoid the repeat of state capture that has led to the decline of South Africa’s foreign policy.
The recurring corruption and personal battles, which are the order of the day within the ANC, are likely to damage South Africa’s international image and to draw the attention of Ramaphosa, who is likely to be re-elected as the party and country’s President, away from international affairs.
The continuing allegations of corruption surrounding Ramaphosa ranging from Bosasa funding to his 2017 presidential campaign, his involvement in the state capture crisis through Glencore and the recent Phala Phala saga, would lead to a situation wherein the president would be undergoing various courts cases, fighting for his survival, just like former president Jacob Zuma.
In this process, accountability will be replaced by self-serving practices as the president and those supporting him are likely to fight back, and state agencies entrusted to enforce laws will be compromised.
In view of the above, the ANC should integrate the step-aside rule as the non-negotiable provision of its constitution, obliging any of its officials, including the president, to step aside when allegations of corruption, fraud, crime and other nefarious practices are raised against them.
The ANC government should review its policies and tailor them in a manner that will be responsive to the needs of ordinary South Africans on the ground.
By so doing, the government should do away with tenders and capacitate the state as the main engine to stimulate growth and development.
For their part as watchdogs, the media and other non-state actors should disseminate information about the practicality of a coalition government and its achievements in other countries to the South African public.
Communities throughout the country should form apolitical structures and platforms to discuss and debate their interests and problems and hold the government accountable.
Dominic Maphaka is a junior research intern at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg.
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