NEVA MAKGETLA: Cult of secrecy is at the heart of the rot in government
So much of the discourse around corruption revolves around evil individuals while the system is at fault
Some time ago a government department asked me to swear not to disclose any information whatsoever that I got in my official capacity. I recognised the broad language — it originated long before 1994 to protect the apartheid state from whistle-blowers and public oversight. Despite the transition to democracy decades earlier, no-one in this particular department had thought to change it. Instead, they effectively retained the culture of secrecy and lack of accountability established in our undemocratic past.
Too much of the discourse around corruption today fails to deal with this kind of effective protection for the powerful. Instead, it centres on evil individuals, extending at most to bewail weak investigative authorities and inadequate punishments. That approach is intellectually satisfying since, like any conspiracy theory, it gives an easy answer to the complexities of modern society. It’s all down to a powerful cabal acting in its own interests...
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