‘Apartheid-era looting of the state’ should be examined
An enquiry into collusion between business and the apartheid government is not a bad thing if it ensures history is not repeated, writes Steven Friedman
When you are set a trap, make sure you do not fall into it — something opponents of the ANC’s patronage faction will need to heed with care when responding to its latest ploy. A draft public protector’s report on the apartheid-era Bankorp bailout, leaked to the media, proposes that President Jacob Zuma appoint a commission to inquire into "apartheid-era looting of the state"; it also found that the Mbeki government had erred in not recovering, from Absa, money paid to Bankorp by the apartheid government. Within hours of the leak, the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) echoed the call for a commission. The politics behind the league’s call is clear: the patronage faction is trying to show that those who accuse it and its private partners of trying to turn the state into their property are pawns of white-owned business that wants to retain its grip on the economy. A spotlight on collusion between government and business under apartheid serves two of its purposes: it undermines the credibility...
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