Major corporate frauds have found a home in SA’s governance void
. Given the orchestrated collusion of numerous individuals over sustained periods of time, these bear the hallmarks of organised crime. But bringing those responsible to book remains an uphill battlePicture: 123RF/80869348
There has been an explosion of major corporate fraud scandals in SA in the past 15 years, involving some of the largest companies in the country. Think retailer Steinhoff, technology company EOH, sugar multinational Tongaat Hulett and the syndicate of companies that colluded to rig contracts for stadium construction for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
The weakening of the police, the prosecutions service and financial institutions — often by the appointment of inept or compromised individuals to head key agencies — was a major part of the state capture that proliferated during the tenure of former president Jacob Zuma. NPA head Shamila Batohi has made a similar assessment. “A lack of skill and capacity to dedicate staff to highly complex and voluminous matters still plagues the organisation,” she said in a presentation to parliament in November 2021.
The NPA has also raised the alarm about the “poorer quality of police investigations” as well as a resources shortfall, resulting in fewer cases being brought by the police for prosecution and a higher number of cases being withdrawn before they go to court. In 2020, for example, 110,249 criminal cases were withdrawn .
“A group of people saw the weaknesses in the governance structures and exploited this, particularly as it related to public sector business — and they,” says EOH CEO Stephen van Coller in an interview.SA needs a coherent strategy to deal with economic crimes — one that moves away from reactive, siloed responses from law enforcement
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