The Zondo commission, with all its limitations, including that some of the bigwigs of grand corruption have evaded it, should be deemed successful. This is based, among other things, on its exposure of systemic corruption in the ANC and the government that up to now has been vigorously denied.
The commission faces increasingly loud criticism about its prolonged duration, its ballooning costs and that many of the most obviously corrupt personalities have not even been near the commission.
Others also rightly say many corrupt corporations have escaped the commission’s scrutiny. These criticisms are understandable, but should not detract from the overall commendable achievements of the commission.
The Zondo commission has become almost the equivalent of a truth commission on post-apartheid corruption. The reality is that no inquiry into public corruption could ever reach every corrupt individual in the ANC, the state and business.
The crucial thing is that a commission of this kind rounds up a reasonably credible number of the corrupt, extracts a reasonable, credible level of truth, and afterwards secures a reasonable, credible number of prosecutions.
Prosecutions are outside the authority of the commission and these are up to the prosecuting authorities. Nevertheless, even if Jacob Zuma, one of the bigwigs who has so far successfully dodged the commission, never appears before it to provide the country with a fuller account of state capture under his reign, the commission will still be a success.
It would, of course, be ideal if he did appear.
Zuma clearly fears incriminating himself by appearing before the commission and so unleashing new corruption prosecutions on top of the current ones he is trying frantically to escape.
Clearly, Zuma is prepared to take a contempt of court rap for not appearing, hoping that he will get a suspended rather than a jail sentence, then getting away with appearing before the commission and so not opening himself up to new corruption prosecutions.
The incumbent president, Cyril Ramaphosa, who was Zuma’s deputy in the party and state, and who has willingly participated in the commission, can at least be used to partly explain the Zuma “wasted” decade.
Importantly, the commission has exposed the systemic corruption, incompetence and callousness in the ANC and in government leadership.
No-one can, after the commission hearings, claim they did not know about the extent of the malfeasance, that the corruption was only isolated to a “few rotten apples”, and that the overwhelming majority of the ANC and government leadership had the best interests of the country at heart.
It also shows the astonishingly incompetent leadership at the helm of state institutions, many with stunningly limited grasp of reality, seemingly living in a parallel fantasy universe from ordinary South Africans.
The commission for the first time forced untouchable ANC and government leaders to publicly account for inept decisions, wasteful actions and corruption
Many have a limited understanding of their fiduciary duties of public care and moral responsibilities. Some who do understand their responsibilities do not care about abusing state resources for self-enrichment, about wasting scarce public resources, or about the failures in delivering the most basic of services.
Some lack the ability to execute the most routine tasks. There is a culture of entitlement among many ANC and government leaders, a belief they are untouchable, accountable to no-one.
The commission for the first time forced untouchable ANC and government leaders to publicly account for inept decisions, wasteful actions and corruption.
That ANC and government leaders had to publicly explain, on live television, their decisions, wrongdoing and corruption, is a form of accountability. It is the first incidence where the ANC and government leaders have been held substantially accountable. Up to now, ANC and government leaders would laugh off attempts to have them explain their actions. They would refuse to say anything, or when they did say something, they would obfuscate in gobbledygook.
Appearing before the Zondo commission live on television is a major deterrent to the would-be corrupt. Of course, prosecuting the corrupt who appear before the commission will be an even bigger deterrent to the would-be corrupt.
Obviously all of the exposure of corruption at the commission will come to nothing if those found to be corrupt, incompetent and wasteful are not held accountable. There have to be prosecutions — and jail — for the corrupt. The South African Revenue Service must extract taxes from the beneficiaries of corruption, and assets acquired corruptly must be seized.
• Gumede is associate professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand and author of Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times (Tafelberg)
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