This is the tip of the iceberg, says Outa’s Duvenage

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) believes a lot more corruption will be uncovered, not just in cases related to state capture.

It was reacting to the Asset Forfeiture Unit’s (AFU) disclosure that it has 17 cases related to state capture – from which it hopes to regain R50 billion.

“If in 17 cases we talk about R50 billion … and we are talking around the cost of corruption in South Africa on an annual basis … well that R50 billion is just 5% of our GDP,” said Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage.

“If that is just 17 cases, you can just imagine the thousands of other cases that are robbing society, down to local government and at national and regional level. Not all corruption is linked to state capture. What the AFU is talking about is only related to the big contracts.”

Duvenage said if a corruption task team was set up using the existing AFU and, if “the [National Prosecuting Authority] does its job properly”, more cases should surface in due course.

“We believe this is only the tip the iceberg.

“And just stopping the losses is going to enrich this country. Arresting people who are behaving corruptly and having these mechanisms is the exiting journey we want to go on.

“We believe a lot of the work we have done is related to those cases. We are excited about work we have done over the past year in laying all these charges. And when people asked ‘why are you wasting your time?’ … well, this is why we did it,” he added.

“Who’s in power today is not in power tomorrow and we are always mindful of that. We knew something was going to change. That light of hope was sparked with Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment as ANC president.” –