STEPPING UP
Assessment of cabinet members and MPs part of plan to tackle corruption
MAN OF THE HOUR: President Cyril Ramaphosa meets members of the public during his morning walk from Gugulethu to Athlone in Cape Town yesterday. Ramaphosa’s reply to the debate on his state of the nation address is on Page 6
AS the finance minister prepares to account to South African taxpayers today how the government plans to spend their money‚ President Cyril Ramaphosa wants his ministers and their deputies to do the same for their personal finances.
Ramaphosa announced yesterday during his reply to the debate on his state of the nation address that members of his cabinet would be subjected to lifestyle audits to establish whether or not they were living beyond their income levels.
He said lifestyle audits would also be conducted on other public representatives‚ such as MPs.
Ramaphosa said the lifestyle audits were part of his plan to tackle corruption in government – and also to deal with the thorny issue of state capture.
“It is time that we implement our resolution on the conduct and also all matters such as lifestyle audits of all the people who occupy positions of responsibility‚” he said to loud applause from MPs.
However‚ the applause became subdued as soon as he mentioned members of the executive.
“If there’s ever been anything that many South Africans would like to have sight of‚ it is the lifestyle audit of their public representative. That is something I believe we have to do,” Ramaphosa said.
“This will be done starting with the executive of the country.”
There have long been calls for ministers‚ MPs and senior civil servants to be subjected to lifestyle audits.
Speaking afterwards on the steps of the National Assembly‚ Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane‚ who has been implicated in the Hawks’ investigation of alleged fraud at the Estina dairy farm in the Free State‚ said he was behind Ramaphosa’s announcement.
“I am OK with it‚ because most of the time we’re being judged by perception. If the president brings facts on the table‚ it helps everybody that we must not live under clouds‚ falsely‚” he said.
Police Minister Fikile Mbalula also welcomed the lifestyle audits.
“I think it’s the correct approach. If you talk about [being] above reproach‚ that’s what you’re talking about,” he said.
“It starts with us and then going down and then you can be respected.
“You can’t live beyond your means. Things will become questionable and you fail the ethical test.”
Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi declined to comment on the matter‚ saying he could only speak on transport.
But his deputy‚ Sindi Chikunga‚ said: “I must be able to account for whatever I have and I have no challenge with that.
“I don’t have a problem and I think it has to be done‚ and in departments too.”
Ramaphosa‚ who announced during his state of the nation address on Friday that he intended to reduce the number of cabinet ministers and government departments‚ said yesterday the changes would not be done in haste.
The reconfiguration of the government would take several months to conclude, and he needed to conduct a thorough analysis and consult broadly, he said.
Responding to criticism by EFF leader Julius Malema that he appeared to be soft on land expropriation without compensation‚ Ramaphosa said a smash-and-grab approach would not be helpful.
He also rejected DA leader Mmusi Maimane’s argument that expropriation of land without compensation would stifle growth within the agricultural sector.
“We must see this process of accelerated land redistribution as an opportunity and not as a threat, an opportunity to free all of us from the bitterness and pain of the past,” Ramaphosa said.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Unions of South Africa said Ramaphosa must ensure his attempt to compensate the families of 44 miners who died at Marikana in 2012 was done with dignity.
Fedusa general-secretary Dennis George said: “We welcome the announcement by the president to compensate those families of people who were injured and killed because it’s important that we close that chapter of our history.
“The Marikana Commission of Inquiry made its recommendations, but I think for the families to get closure is something we really welcome as Fedusa.”
However‚ the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union declined to comment on Ramaphosa’s promise.
“We can’t react to that because the matter has been between the lawyers that represent the communities and the families of those massacred‚” Amcu spokesman Manzini Zungu said. – TimesLIVE, additional reporting by Neo Goba
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