President needs all our support on corruption

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent announcement of a Scorpions-style unit to tackle corruption in the ranks of the state and the private sector was a great step in the right direction.

Ramaphosa’s rise to the presidency of the ANC and that of the state was premised on his promise to fight against graft, especially in the public service.

It is for this reason that Ramaphosa has to be applauded for his announcement of the establishment of a unit to be based in the National Prosecuting Authority to curb corruption. This indicates Ramaphosa was not merely paying lip service when he emphasised the need to fight corruption while on the campaign trail in 2017.

However, the setting up of a corruption-busting outfit will be more of a litmus test for the entirety of the ANC than Ramaphosa.

Is the ANC prepared for the impact or the fallout that the work of the unit will have on the governing party?

The erstwhile Scorpions had run-ins with with many in the ANC for their work, and were accused of targeting former president Thabo Mbeki’s political opponents.

To this end, the Scorpions were disbanded, amidst the political rise of former President Jacob Zuma.

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), which replaced the Scorpions, have on the face of it been ineffective in clamping down on corruption. If what is coming out of the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture is anything to go by, Ramaphosa is on the right path with the establishment of the new unit.

But the question remains whether the beneficiaries of state capture are going to go down without a fight. That is, will corrupt elements in the governing party allow Ramaphosa space to deliver on his promise of ridding the country of corruption? Will Ramaphosa finish his term in government?

The cancer of state capture – when the state is captured by corporates for business interests – is deep and dates back to the days of former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.

The so-called “nine wasted years” under Zuma’s presidency made matters worse.

Ramaphosa needs all our support as a nation in his noble cause of fighting against corruption, for the beneficiaries of wrongdoing will not go down without a fight – and might even try to remove the president from the Union Buildings to avoid going to jail.