Two scandals that are shocking even by SA standards
These villains must be told enough is enough, writes
JUST how do we explain that almost every single day, another scandalous revelation is reported, leaked or dragged into the public domain through court proceedings?
Every day evidence emerges of gross acts of corruption involving state capture and plain old theft, compounded by the selling out of the public interest for factional advantage.
It is bad enough that we have a president who has more than 783 corruption, fraud, money-laundering and racketeering charges hanging over his head, and presides over a government that is riven by a toxic mix of rampant corruption and factional politics.
I plead guilty as charged that I, with millions of others, played a role to save this man from an imminent prison term and propelled him to the highest office in the land in the naive belief that he would turn the fortunes of the working class. I have apologised for this crime. At every level of our society, be it at local ward or community level, or at provincial and national level, scandals continue to unfold, and have now become so commonplace that many of us have learnt to expect that almost every government initiative will be tainted in some way by corruption, mismanagement and a disregard for the real needs of our people. Of course there are exceptions. There are a few in the cabinet who have had the courage to speak out and draw attention to the impact on the electorate of condoning corruption and state capture.
Large swathes of our people now believe, to paraphrase Eldridge Cleaver, a former leader of the American Black Panthers, that the government is not part of the solution but part of the problem.
Like most trade unionists I am a news junkie. You could be forgiven for thinking that because I so avidly follow the news, and actively contribute to the public debate through social media, that I could cease to be shocked at what is happening in our country. Sadly, this is not the case.
Over the past week I have found two reports deeply shocking. The first is the crisis engulfing Eskom.
How has it been possible for Eskom management to falsify expenditure of billions of rands, deliberately manipulate an energy crisis involving the infamous (and now acknowledged as being completely unnecessary) “load-shedding”, secretly connive to undermine agreed tendering procedures, and enter into illegal private contracts for the benefit of family, friends and comrades?
As we have now seen from the Dentons report, Eskom management have been party to the most pernicious and unscrupulous underhand deals, and in the process have put millions of jobs at risk, created havoc in production, and condemned hundreds of thousands of poor households to life without electricity.
The key question is: Who knew this was happening and remained silent? Who benefited from this situation? Who allowed and even encouraged the veil of secrecy to be drawn over Eskom’s deceit, and perpetuated the lies that the entity was in safe hands, and that the interests of the people were paramount? Who allowed a watered-down version of the Dentons report to be presented as legitimate? Who authorised the issuing of a “redacted” version of it that deliberately misled the public?
Eskom management, while deceiving the public and providing for the fabulous enrichment of a few connected individuals, also received the blessing of the Presidency and those parliamentarians who were supposed to be providing oversight.
It now looks increasingly obvious that if Eskom management could successfully deceive the people of South Africa in order to make completely irresponsible deals worth billions on dodgy coal and diesel contracts, while at the same time deliberately delaying power station refurbishment and ignoring the exploration of sustainable energy alternatives, then they could also be relied upon to blindside our people on the much more ambitious project of the switch to nuclear. SHEBEEN KEEN: Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe broke down in tears as he spoke about his relationship with the Guptas following a damning public protector report on state capture
Think again about those many years of electricity load-shedding and blackouts. Think about the doubledigit tariff increases, about the closure of marginal mines, about the shutting down of small and medium enterprises — and at times even bigger firms. Think about workers placed on short time and eventually losing their jobs en masse and about the millions who arrived home from a long day at work only to sleep on empty stomachs because there was no electricity to cook with and they had no money or means to drive to buy fast food.
Think about the hospitals that had no generators as an alternative, about criminals who took full advantage to rape and cause mayhem under cover of night and about whole cities, suburbs and thousands of residential and rural areas and townships plunged into darkness.
All this done to ensure a small clique earned billions! Heartless greed!
It is not so difficult to link the dots and see a network of those hyenas behind a not-so-sophisticated programme to drive South Africa towards a kleptocracy and predatory state. Jacob Maroga is forced to resign and unsuccessfully and scandalously demands almost a R100-million in damages. He gets replaced by Brian Dames, who is shafted to open the way for Tshediso Matona — who also doesn’t last six months until the blue-eyed boy of the imaginary Saxonwold shebeen takes over.
The shebeen star is forced to leave following the public protector’s report on state capture. A man with a questionable political history, and whose name and controversy are like saliva and tongue, Dr Ben Ngubane, presides over all this.
The president has been sitting on the Special Investigating Unit’s report since 2014. He, together with the ANC, keeps mum when this scandal breaks but they shout their lungs out when banks get exposed for doing the same but on a larger scale. How convenient!
The second revelation has been the report from the Competition Commission on the activities of 17 banks, including our very own Absa, Standard Bank and Barclays, and Investec.
It has now been proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the banks have been wilfully and secretly manipulating currency markets, involving the buying and selling of rands against other currencies.
The mysterious activities of socalled respectable financial institutions have been exposed as little more than the grubby workings of a dingy global casino.
From as early as 2007 this shadowy gang of gamblers have publicly demanded accountability, have insisted on so-called fiscal discipline, have urged our people to save and put their hard-earned money into their accounts as protection against the future.
At the same time they were secretly conniving with one another to manipulate exchange rates, transaction fees and the chronic undervaluing of especially those currencies associated with the global south, including South Africa.
This has resulted in literally billions being wiped off the value of economies such as ours, and those of many other countries. It has caused untold hardship for ordinary people. It has starved the economy of possible investment, and left millions of people at the mercy of poverty and unemployment. Vast profits have been made at the expense of workers, who through crippling bank charges and expensive loan arrangements have been forced into impoverishment, while a small minority have amassed wealth on a scale that is truly breathtaking.
As we know, this is not the first scandal involving leading South African companies.
The greedy parasites have been caught before conniving with each other to set the price of milk, bread and cement out of the reach of the poor.
Of course, the activities of the banks have been roundly condemned by all and sundry. Their activities have confirmed the worst fears of those who lay the blame for our underdevelopment and pathetic economic growth on the white monopoly capitalist class. This may in part of course be true, but what is missing from this analysis is any critical thinking about how the banks have been allowed to do this.
Was the Reserve Bank aware of this manipulation? Was the National Treasury? Was former minister of finance Trevor Manuel not aware? His partner ran one of the banks, for heaven’s sake! Did they not talk about their work over a candle-lit dinner? Was Pravin Gordhan briefed on this fiasco? If this really was an opportunity to once and for all expose the white monopolists, why wasn’t it seized?
The truth is that our country, in its 23rd year of democracy, has been almost strangled at birth. The very same neoliberal policies that have impoverished our people, have created havoc in service delivery, have turned villains into millionaires and risked the future of our young people by making sure that education has become a privilege and not a right, have been unswervingly promoted by the ANC government.
It is the ANC government that has created the environment for doubledealing, for institutionalised theft, for undermining oversight, for disempowering our people, and for allowing unfettered looting. We must not only insist on accountability and campaign for policies that actually meet the needs of our people, but we have to now reawaken and revitalise those millions of ordinary people, in workplaces, communities, throughout civil society, to come together and say enough is enough!
Vavi is convener of the Trade Union Federation to be launched in March
Think again about those many years of electricity load-shedding and blackouts