Wherever you look, a mafia is in charge

Large parts of SA’s politics, economy and society have been taken over by criminal enterprises and the “ideology” of crime, raising the spectre that the country is on the verge of becoming a fully fledged criminal state.

A criminal state is one in which all legitimate institutions, laws and policies have been penetrated by criminals and criminal organisations. The criminal enterprise, as a distinct form of organisation, appears in politics, business and sport, and becomes factored into daily life.

Criminals are accepted in the private sector, religion, traditional structures, parties and the state, and are normalised as legitimate. Many honest, ordinary South Africans wrongly think that criminal enterprises only operate in the informal sector or “underground”. But many are above ground, operating as normal registered enterprises with seemingly credible business executives.   

The distinction between the legitimate and the criminal — be it a business, religious organisation,  political party or leader — becomes blurred. In a criminal state, large parts of public debate are captured by criminals and crime organisations.

The reality is that criminal activity now forms a substantial sector of South African society. It may have to be included in official economic statistics, surveys and official measurements.

Many enter politics, business — and even sport — solely as a criminal enterprise. Criminals and criminal syndicates have become powerful in SA. And worse, they have been accepted by ordinary citizens, legitimate companies and the state.

One could argue that the organised capture of a private company, state company or sports organisation, solely to use it for crime, can now be classified as an ideology — like populism, patriarchy or communism.

Large parts of the structure, discourse and leadership of the governing ANC have been captured by criminals or those with criminal intent. SA has seen the extraordinary phenomenon of new political parties being established by criminals to capture state power and resources, and for the protection from prosecution that being elected often brings. Many criminals fund political parties and their leaders' lifestyles.

Parts of the South African state, state-owned enterprises and the public procurement system have been captured by criminals. In some cases, criminals have been “deployed” by captured ANC structures to the leadership of state agencies. Their jobs are then to siphon off state resources.

Criminals have also started 'churches' where they dupe the spiritually desperate into paying tithes to them

Terrifyingly, even parts of the police, intelligence services and prosecuting authorities have been infiltrated or captured by criminals who have no interest in serving the public. They use these powerful agencies to commit crimes and cover up the crimes of others.

Criminals have also started “churches” where they dupe the spiritually desperate into paying tithes to them. Churches give such criminals a cover of respectability. Some sports, particularly football, appear to have been set up as criminal enterprises or captured by criminal elements. Churches and sports organisations are perfect structures to launder the proceeds of crime.

Sadly, many legitimate private companies also behave like gangsters — overcharging poor people, stealing data or not honouring credible insurance claims.  

Many participants in the informal economy, including the minibus taxi,  money-lending  and tavern sectors, have long been criminal.  Others, such as building hijackers in townships and the inner cities who “rent” out stolen houses, and company hijackers who steal entire companies, operate as if they are legitimate businesses.

In many townships gangsters are “governments”, providing “public services” such as “security”, “social grants” and renting out stolen houses. One of the reasons SA is in danger of becoming a criminal state is because parts of the state have failed at almost all levels. Accountability has broken at all levels also. But voters continue to fall for criminals living on their struggle credentials, or whose only competence is to sing struggle songs or milk black victimhood, or to blame “enemies” — be they apartheid, whites or black Africans from across the border —  to garner votes to access state resources to enrich themselves.

Many South Africans appear to idolise the currency of “bling” — the lifestyle, the cars, the mansions and the expensive alcohol — no matter that it is financed by crime or corruption. Every South African will have to fight back in their spheres of influence to reverse the slide into a criminal state, otherwise there will be no future for our children and their children.

* Gumede is associate professor, School of Governance, Wits University, and author of Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times (Tafelberg)