Mr Clean needs to show a wary nation that he really is tackling corruption

President Cyril Ramaphosa came into office in February 2018 vowing to bring the perpetrators of state capture to book, wage relentless war on corruption and preside over the revitalisation of the ANC. Arguably, he has fallen short in all three areas. Some of the blame must be his, even though few will dispute the difficulty of the circumstances he inherited. The Zondo commission of inquiry has brought into lurid focus the destructive influence of the Gupta family in the state sector, but the looters seem no closer to prosecution. The war on corruption appears to be a half-hearted affair, fought largely in the background, and what breakthroughs there are seem overshadowed by headlines telling stories of the continued manipulation of state contracts and misappropriated millions. The low-water mark of the ongoing theft of public money was the personal protective equipment (PPE) scandal, in which politically connected vultures feasted off the misery of South Africans battling a new and frightening disease.

And, it seems, Babita Deokaran, an honest official working in the Gauteng health department, paid the ultimate price for doing her duty as an ethical public servant and blowing the whistle on crooked dealings.

For the ANC, which never lifted a finger to halt the looting frenzy of state capture, the unity many of Ramaphosa’s questionable decisions was meant to foster is as elusive as ever. True, the party has acted against secretary-general Ace Magashule, who has been charged in a criminal court. But his supporters argue he is the victim of a factional feud.

Ramaphosa is a man who doesn’t rush to conclusions and believes in the steady grind of process. That may be admirable, but it is apparently not how the public see it.

A survey released this week by research network

Afrobarometer may suffer from the limitations of a small sample and the danger of generalising, but it shows

South Africans believe in large numbers that corruption is worse under Ramaphosa.

It’s quite possible that respondents perceive an increase in corruption when in fact what is happening is that more of it is being unearthed, and some of it dates from an earlier era. That’s one interpretation, but from the wide range of institutions that are more distrusted than they are trusted, the perception that corruption has grown worse is widespread and well-rooted. And it’s notable that so many respondents see the office of the presidency as corrupt.

According to the research, half or more of all citizens say “most” or “all” officials are involved in corruption in the police (56%), the president’s office (53%), local government councils (51%), and parliament (50%). Nongovernmental organisations, traditional leaders and religious leaders are less commonly seen as corrupt.

That more than half of respondents view the presidency as corrupt speaks either of a communications breakdown on the part of the president, or a vote of no confidence.

But look at the case of former presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko. She was implicated in failing to declare her financial interest in her husband’s company, which benefited in the Gauteng PPE scandal. Her punishment, apart from a year away from the office, is that she will not return to Ramaphosa’s office. But she will get another job in the public service. It hardly seems a high price to pay, and that is the impression one gets from Ramaphosa’s war on corruption: every decision he makes seems tailor-made to please someone, to return a favour, to set up an obligation.

The interests of South Africans appear low on his list of priorities, so it’s little wonder we may be starting to ask when Mr Clean will produce his broom.

Perhaps Ramaphosa will feel hard done by in the survey, and point to successes, not the least of which is revitalising the law-enforcement establishment without which there can be no war on corruption. But he should remember that in discharging his duty to us all, he not only has to wage war on corruption, but he has to be seen to be doing so.

The war on corruption appears to be a halfhearted affair