Govt ‘working hard to end looting’ of resources meant for South Africans – Ramaphosa

The country has been working hard to end the looting of resources meant for the benefit of South Africa’s people, President Cyril Ramaphosa said as storm clouds and uncertainty continue to circle him over the Phala Phala farm saga.

Ramaphosa was addressing the nation in his weekly newsletter “From the desk of the President.”

Fighting corruption  

For the past five years, government has been working around the clock to fight corruption, prosecute those responsible and recover stolen funds, the president said.

“When we embarked on this journey, we understood that the results would not be felt overnight.”

“We first had to rebuild state institutions that had been deliberately weakened, emptied of expertise and rendered incapable of preventing capture by criminal elements. We had to strengthen law enforcement institutions and shield them from outside interference,” Ramaphosa said.

Successes

Ramaphosa cited the example by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) last week that it had reached a settlement with an international company implicated in corruption at Eskom.

He said this is a huge development in government’s effort to hold those responsible for state capture to account.

“The NPA Investigating Directorate finalised a landmark agreement with Swiss engineering company ABB Ltd to pay R2.5 billion in punitive reparations to South Africa. This in connection with bribes allegedly paid to obtain contracts with Eskom between 2014 and 2017.”

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“This amount, which will be paid into the Criminal Asset Recovery Account, is in addition to R1.6 billion that ABB paid Eskom in 2020 to settle an investigation into allegedly criminal conduct involving contracts at the Kusile power station,” he said.

The current settlement does not indemnify the company or its staff from prosecution, Ramaphosa said.

Cases brought to court

He said in the last few months, several cases have been brought to court.

“Former executives of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) like Eskom and Transnet have been charged alongside businesspeople for allegedly colluding to steal public funds.”

“In addition to the arrests of those implicated in wrongdoing and bringing the cases to court, progress is being made in other areas as well where there has been malfeasance,” the president said.

Many of those involved in state capture and their enablers in the private sector saw nothing wrong with diverting public funds to private pockets, Ramaphosa also added.

State capture

“At the height of the state capture era, unscrupulous politicians repurposed state institutions for private enrichment and to cover their tracks. Today we have law enforcement authorities and a prosecuting authority devoted to investigating and prosecuting without fear or favour.”

The fight against corruption is ongoing, Ramaphosa said.

“I have always said that the fight against corruption will not be won easily or quickly, given how many years it took for patronage and graft to become entrenched.”

“Now that we see that progress is being made, we must do everything we can to ensure that this work continues unhindered and that none of the gains we have made are reversed,” Ramphosa said.

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