Time we all stood up against corruption
CORRUPTION is endemic in our society. It is there in the private sector (such as the collusion by the major banks), and in the public sector (such as tender-rigging, violation of procurement rules or wasteful, fruitless and unauthorised expenditure). This scourge has plagued our democracy from the controversial arms deal in the 1990s, to the current fiasco regarding the payment of social grants.
The recent attacks on Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, his deputy Mcebisi Jonas and others involved in finance and tax governance, are part of a sustained narrative to target, smear and malign the corruption-busters in government. Whether Gordhan is labelled an “impimpi”, Jonas a corrupt influence-peddler, or Judge Dennis Davis a liar for doing their jobs, these are all part of the design to reduce their influence and remove them from their positions.
What is behind the rhetoric that Gordhan and Jonas are tools of white monopoly capital?
At a recent discussion in Durban on “monopoly capital and transformation”, Mzwanele “Jimmy” Manyi of the Progressive Professionals Forum (PPF) defined “white monopoly capital” as “the extreme end of a capitalist of this country… the people that control the oligopolies of the industry” and named the banks, cellphone companies, the construction cartel, auditing firms, fuel companies and the wood, paper and metal industries. So far, so good.
What was the proposed solution? That government must change its procurement policies, such as the Preferential Policy Framework Act “whose regulations were in fact working against black businesses and empowering white businesses”. Why was there no reference to the working people in the mining and other sectors, the unemployed and generally the poorest in society who surely are the real victims of white monopoly capital?
This is not in itself a problem if it represents the view of a particular section of business. But when members of government and sections of business purport to speak on behalf of the most victimised under the capitalist system, their intentions become clearer. It is to camouflage their underlying purpose with the patina of revolutionary- sounding phrases such as “radical economic transformation”.
Surely, anyone committed to radical economic transformation wants to see the end of monopoly capital, black or white. It’s nothing new, nor even vaguely original.
Economic pundits, socialists, communists and social democrats committed to an egalitarian society have been saying this for ages. But, while sections of the ruling party and business community have been repeating this mantra, their actions and economic policies reveal their fundamentally contrary goals.
What they really want is to replace white monopoly capital with crony capitalism, which is defined as “an economic system in which family members and friends of government officials and business leaders are given unfair advantages in the form of jobs, loans, etc”.
Add to that tenders, contracts and other special favours.
This is the type of narrative behind the current attacks which pillory honest, hard-working and committed public servants because they stand in the path of crony capitalism and refuse to bend the rules or turn a blind eye. Gordhan became a target the day he made it clear that he was not going to rubber-stamp the proposed nuclear deal, and Jonas the day he blew the lid on the Guptas’ greasy offer to make him minister of finance.
The strategy is to contaminate truth with falsehoods, muddy the waters, spread blatant lies and to create a false narrative – fake news – using mainstream media, dedicated media channels and cronyfunded social media.
Regardless of whether people swallow them, the peddlers of these ugly fictions create the justification, in their own minds, to take action against the officials concerned.
Right now, another tragedy is unfolding before our eyes – the scandal surrounding Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini’s inept and disgraceful handling of the social grants issue.
The facts about the alleged corruption and deceit behind the award of the contract to Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) will come to light in due course. What is clear is the sheer arrogance of the minister and some officials in flouting legal procurement rules, in failing (or refusing) to implement an order of the Constitutional Court, and in misleading the court about their conduct.
Despite the tide of public opinion turning against Dlamini, the president does not appear to think her conduct requires any censure. The fact that her handling of the issue is playing dangerous games with the lives of at least 17 million South Africans and the future of all of us, does not seem to matter. Instead, we are witnessing another potential crisis where the minister of finance may be targeted for obeying the law by refusing to support the extension of the invalid contract to CPS, while the real culprit walks free.
It is time for all of us who believe in clean, ethical and transparent governance to stand up and put an end to this madness.