Bester has exposed government’s ineptitude

It was something to behold, because seldom in the history of our ANC government has any minister apologised for anything. So, hats off to Justice Minister Ronald Lamola for apologising for the escape of murdered and rapist Thabo Bester.

Talking about hats, that wearer of a multiplicity of them, our Police Minister Bheki Cele, was trying to portray our security services as being on the ball in recapturing Bester in northern Tanzania.

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Leaving aside whether you believe Cele’s version is true or that it was just blind luck the fugitive was apprehended, the reality is that Bester is a living, breathing monument to the disaster which is our bureaucracy.

He is a man who, although born at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, does not exist under his own name in any data base in this country. How he even managed to be processed through our legal system without a valid ID, beggars belief.

This is not just another example of ANC incompetence, it has proved the doomsayers right that we are in freefall towards failed state status.

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If one of the most dangerous prisoners in this country cannot be officially identified, then what of the sophisticated con artists and global terrorists who use our loophole-perforated security systems to launder their dirty money?

No surprise that the global Financial Action Task Force greylisted South Africa earlier this year for its lapses in monitoring money transfers. That is hardly the look a country would want to present to foreign investors who would be seriously concerned about the safety of their money, because if money laundering is possible, every other criminal action is also on the table.

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Of course, while Bester and others swan around the world on fake passports and identities, our department of home affairs make it difficult for local citizens to renew their documents. It’s a farce.