Special courts needed to persecute Covid-19 looters

THE old proverb “when the wicked rule, the people groan” is increasingly proving true every day in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration.

Time for talking and empty promises is over, Mr President. Ramaphosa can no longer act shocked whenever he hears and knows about his own comrades and senior government officials who are allegedly involved in Covid-19 corruption.

His own spokesperson, Khusela Diko, and her husband have been implicated in multimillion-rand Covid-19 corruption in Gauteng.

The president needs to show leadership by decisively dealing with the cancer of corruption.

The time for useless commissions of inquiries and inter-ministerial task teams is over. South Africans want to see politicians, ministers and former ministers, MECs and their families who are stealing from the pandemic funds sent to prison.

He needs to note that South Africans are tired of this large-scale corruption. This grand looting spree is happening during the time when the government is taking urgent and extraordinary actions to deal with the pandemic.

The president also needs to equally take urgent action in dealing with the Covid-19 thieves. This he can do by establishing special Covid-19 courts and appointing prosecutors.

During the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, the government dedicated about 56 rooms in district and regional courts as special courts in nine host cities to deal specifically with the cases.

Equipped with experts, these special courts operated throughout the duration of the event to speedily prosecute perpetrators. The special Covid-19 courts should take the similar model.

This open-season looting is happening at the backdrop, when the country is facing negative growth and bleeding jobs as a result of the lockdown.

The unemployment rate has shot to more than 30% with fears and warnings from experts that it could could climb to a gigantic 50%, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is probably the one opportune time for President Ramaphosa to prove to the international community and the nation how serious he really is about dealing with corruption in his government once and for all.

After all, this is the promise he made to the people when he campaigned to be the president.

VUYOLWETHU ZUNGULA | African Transformation Movement (ATM) president and MP, Johannesburg