Heads should roll over failure to jail the corrupt

It is common cause that the drive against corruption in South Africa has been beset by lengthy and inexplicable delays. At best, it is argued that our law enforcement authorities lack the capacity to put even the most glaring and egregious offenders behind bars. Others discern a more sinister motive at play.

At the top of this pile of official neglect sits the fallen hero of the local business scene, Markus Jooste, the one-time furniture whizz-kid who presided over the Steinhoff group. German authorities have prepared a fraud case against Jooste and are said to be keen on his extradition. From the National Prosecuting Authority, however, the silence has been deafening. Whatever action being taken remains a closely guarded secret.

This is made even stranger by the close co-operation between South African authorities and their counterparts abroad on the very cases that should be in the headlines here. It’s not as if we’re being kept out of the loop. This week, US authorities released details of a settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and German software company SAP. Again, South Africa was shown to be a happy hunting ground for multinationals working in tandem with local crooks. Happily, we will be the beneficiary of refunds made to the US authorities in respect of fines paid for corruption at Eskom, Transnet and the City of Johannesburg. But why did we have to rely on the SEC to learn about corruption in our own back yard?

This week as well, the Competition Appeal Court ripped apart the Competition Commission’s half-baked case against local banks, in a case originally pursued by US authorities. The court found that “rookie errors” had been committed.

We cannot keep falling back on the tired excuse that we “lack capacity” to prosecute these crimes. The institutions of state are there to enforce the law. If they are not doing so, perhaps the personnel in these institutions need to be called to account. Perhaps we should be asking whether the right people are occupying jobs that are crucial in cleaning up corruption so that South Africa can offer itself as a credible home for investors, rather than for the crooks who thrive here to enrich themselves in our complicit environment.