Colin Coleman has presented an important plan for how to turn South Africa’s fortunes around, but without the immediate, effective, well-resourced implementation of a war on kleptocracy and rampant corruption, it will fail. This is the sine qua non of his plan.
Lawyers love to sprout Latin phrases, it gives them a veneer of learnedness and impresses audiences whether or not they recognise the phrase. In the present context,meaning “without which not”, the use of Latin is apt: both for its succinct accuracy and also for the necessary emphasis on point three in the 10-point action plan proposed by Colin Coleman.
Recognising the war as being one on crime is a significant first step. Countering crime is the work of the state; it is not for citizens to resort to self-help in the war. Confronting the corrupt takes place in properly constituted independent and impartial courts of law; those who are accused are entitled to the benefit of the doubt and are accorded fair trials.Acting against high-ranking politicians should not be a career-limiting activity.
As far as expert prosecution is concerned: The National Prosecuting Authority has been, to use the term in vogue with Robert McBride and Shamila Batohi – both of whom should know – “hollowed out” by the ravages of State Capture. It started with mendacious Menzi Simelani announcing his intention to impose the vision of the ANC on the NPA at the very time that State Capture commenced in earnest on Zuma’s watch.
As there is insufficient time available to cure the defects in the Hawks and NPA, a “workaround” solution is required.The solution proposed by the Constitutional Court in the early years of the Zuma administration is one that was not palatable to his Cabinet and alliance partners in Parliament. Instead of seeking the best practice implementation of the findings of the court, the approach was akin to a sick dog eating its dinner with “long teeth”.
The best-practice means of bringing this about is to create a specialised anti-corruption unit to investigate and prosecute the corrupt. Housed in the institutional protection of Chapter Nine of the Constitution, a unit of this kind will be equipped to deal with the evidence tumbling out at the Zondo Commission and other commissions of inquiry into SARS, the PIC and others.
Advocacy, lobbying, legislative initiatives and public interest litigation are the tools available to the public of SA.
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