FIXING STATE CAPTURE
NEVA MAKGETLA: Big question is where did it go so wrong?
State capture will remain a threat until the majority have a fair chance of succeeding without breaking the law, writes Neva Makgetla
No one can deny the reality of state capture in SA today. But we need to discuss how to fix it. After the worst offenders go, what can ensure that the new crowd doesn’t take up where they left off? It’s not enough to say we will pick really virtuous candidates in future. Many who are implicated in the current scandals made huge sacrifices for the country before 1994. They went to jail or exile to fight for liberation. We need to ask what led SA down this path. We can start by identifying what worked and what didn’t work in stopping corruption in the past 20 years. What worked: media investigations and their whistle-blowers; honest officials and politicians who blocked corrupt schemes; an outstanding public protector; NGOs and their lawyers; many business and union leaders; and the judiciary.What mostly didn’t work: complex state audit processes; police investigative units; parliamentary oversight; and commissions of inquiry that seem to take years and end up with vague reports. Sunl...
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