REFLECTIONS ON ZONDO COMMISSION
THE Zondo and Nugent Commissions of Inquiry are set to drill down, hopefully hard, on the extent of state capture and the sorry state of affairs at the revenue collection agency.
Sordid details have begun to emerge at the Zondo Inquiry. But the extent of harm caused and culpability for destruction wrought on the country must take centre stage, lest the felons escape justice and the law.
Key institutions of government were left in tatters. As Natasha Marrian wrote on the Nugent inquiry in the Financial Mail on August 30, “Sars went, in the words of Minister Pravin Gordhan from, ‘a world-class efficient, respected tax and customs administration’ to one sunk under scandal and a R50 billion revenue collection shortfall. This, on Tom Moyane’s watch, with an exodus of senior staff and destruction of key enforcement and compliance units.
Testimony before the Zondo Commission had frightening detail, including threats of death and offers of princely sums of money to play ball. Mcebisi Jonas’s verbatim quote was chilling. He recalled an encounter with a Gupta: “… we are in control of everything; of the NPA; of the Hawks; of national intelligence; so we are in full control. The old man will do everything we tell him…”
The old man and his gangsters have brought the country to its knees. They have not only destroyed institutions of state but crucially caused the glue holding society together to come unstuck.
The effect of this strategy has been gratuitous violence and the re-racialisation of society.
Municipal service delivery protests are a barometer of the loss of respect and civility and the wanton destruction of property that accompanies protest. This, while StatsSA reported recently that public institutions were spending far less on capital expenditure, so prospects of replacing buildings, cars and equipment destroyed are increasingly remote hitting the poor the hardest.
Heese and Allan, economist and MD of Municipal IQ respectively, wrote in Business Day (August 29) that, “the sustained series of service delivery protests over the last three months is a record for a single quarter since we (Municipal IQ) started keeping a tally in 2004. In addition, …protests staged against municipal performance (or lack thereof) have become more violent in 2018, with 9 out of every 10 impinging on the rights of others to go about their daily lives – whether it be to commute safely, attend school or keep a business running – without fear of looting and arson”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has steadfastly assumed the task of rebuilding a climate for investors. He is seeking to understand what went so wrong with the country over the past decade, through a series of task teams. It would behove him to pay as much attention to fixing the social fabric as a priority – if the project to rebuild SA Inc is to gain momentum. Mistrust, racial slurs and innuendo are on the ascent. Firm, unambiguous leadership must manifest. Civil society should educate people of responsibilities associated with democratic behaviours and the imperative to operate within the Rule of Law. We must collectively ensure that hope, while fragile, does not fade.