‘Root out corrupt politicos’
● Moerane Commission calls for crackdown on dodgy public officials and businesspeople
An urgent investigation of politicians, public officials and businesspeople associated with corrupt activities in the public service must be a priority.
This is one of the recommendations in the 425-page Moerane report on political killings in KwaZulu-Natal.
The eagerly awaited report was released by premier Willies Mchunu in the provincial legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday and is expected to shed more light on the underlying causes behind a spate of suspected political killings in the province.
The Moerane commission, which cost taxpayers R15m‚ was set up by Mchunu to investigate the killings.
It wrapped up its work in April and gave the report to Mchunu in June.
The commission had been severely criticised as a waste of taxpayers’ money, its fiercest critics being Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini and the EFF.
The Zulu monarch argued that intra-party killings were not politically motivated but acts of criminality, while the EFF‚ which testified before the commission‚ said there were no political killings in the province but intra-party killings within the ANC, and these were about resources.
In a summary, Mchunu highlighted some of the recommendations, including that politicians, public officials and people implicated in corruption must be investigated, prosecuted and sentenced to avoid a culture of impunity.
The entire criminal justice system must be immediately depoliticised, the report says.
The commission also recommended that an inter-ministerial task force of the security cluster be set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa to look into the political killings and review the workings of the security agencies to ensure better co-ordination and coherence.
“The recruiting, training and deployment of police [must] be improved,” it says.
Other recommendations are that:
● Political parties must take responsibility for the violent competition between their members for political positions and power;
● Parties must immediately settle differences within and between themselves through peaceful means;
● Parties must discipline members whose conduct encourages or results in political intolerance and violence, and where they are involved in or accomplices to killings, they must be reported to the law enforcement authorities; and
● The state must urgently investigate the violation of section 217 (1) of the constitution and where necessary revise its procedures to ensure that it complies with the constitutional provisions of fairness, equity, transparency, competitiveness and cost-effectiveness.
The commission also recommended political education on democratic practices and the universal practice of peaceful political competition.
It urged the state to immediately take measures to depoliticise and make the public service more professional.
The state was also urged to rebuild a public service driven by service delivery and public service and not patronage and personal accumulation.
“The state must also immediately enforce the separation of powers, duties and functions between public representatives and public officials and hold each accountable professionally and criminally for their respective conduct.”
Parties were encouraged to build a strong membership base rooted in democratic values, political tolerance, sound moral values and service to the public so as to “reinforce a culture of adherence to and mobilisation along the lines of democratic principles and political programmes and not narrow ideas along the lines of political positions and power”.
They have also been encouraged to work with religious organisations, civil society organisations, the media, academics and any other appropriate institutions to reverse the current culture of intolerance, violence and killing.
They must also enforce a strict code of conduct which prevents politicians, state officials and citizens from using language which incites hatred, prejudice and violence.
The report will be referred to the national cabinet so that findings can be studied and the recommendations implemented nationally. –