Zondo: SA’s system gives ‘party bosses too much power’ to control MPs

Former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has lamented the lack of accountability among political parties and government departments in the face of allegations of corruption.

This, he said, reduces the public’s trust in the people they voted for to lead the country, and hinders the government from delivering services to communities.

Addressing the South African Council of Churches conference on Wednesday, Zondo said that more than 30 years after democracy, corruption had reached crippling levels.

“There are still many who live in poverty because of corruption, schools with no decent toilets because of corruption and municipalities that struggle to provide basic services because of corruption,” said Zondo.

ALSO READ: SA cannot have a weak NPA that cannot do its job – Zondo

“The auditor-general keeps on telling those in authority about these challenges in municipalities and state-owned entities. Not only do they not listen, but very often don’t even care to read her reports, and that is scandalous.

“This does not mean that nothing has been done to improve the lives of people since 1994. I acknowledge that a lot has been done over the past 30 years to improve the lives of many people. However, what I do say is that there is equally a lot that has not been done, partly because of corruption.”

Corruption in government

Zondo said the public procurement or tender system was one of the biggest contributors to corruption in the country.

“If you can drastically reduce corruption in the procurement system, that will go a long way to significantly reduce corruption levels in this country. It has been abused by those who seek to enrich themselves through corruption.

“You will find that there were goods and services that were not needed, but were procured or find that there is duplication of contracts. You will find that the law provides for deviation from the norm of what should be done when an entity seeks to procure goods and services in a manner that is constitutional and lawful, but there would be fraudulent abuse of the deviation provisions.

ALSO READ: MPs asked to recuse themselves from Mkhwanazi police corruption allegations probe

“Those who sought to enrich themselves through corruption are identified in government departments and SOEs.”

He said those who refused to comply with corrupt instructions would be isolated and removed from their posts by those who seek to enrich themselves.

Politicians and corruption

Zondo further lamented the kid gloves with which corruption is dealt, especially when it comes to politicians.

“We must not have a situation where, because you are popular, we bend the rules when you have done something wrong. Because that has happened in this country. It should not have happened,” said Zondo.

ALSO READ: Cover-ups and corruption threaten ANC’s future

This, he said, is enabled by the political party system that allows those with a majority in parliament to get away with murder.

“We remain represented by political parties in parliament and legislatures. This system gives party bosses too much power, enabling them to effectively control how members of parliament who are supposed to exercise oversight over the executive vote when, for example, motions of no confidence are brought against a president. This means that if the party bosses want members of parliament who are members of their party to vote in a certain way, they will control them.”

The same sentiments were shared by MK party MP and portfolio committee member on police, David Mandla Skosana, who on Tuesday expressed no faith in the commission set up to investigate the allegations against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and government institutions.

ALSO READ: Corruption claims lives and sparks protest in Ekurhuleni

“We have a constitutional crisis in this country, and we must accept that it’s not going to be smooth sailing. I don’t have confidence in the so-called commission because at the end of the day, once there is politics at play here, there is no justice. What is going to happen at the end of the day is exactly what happened with the Phala Phala report,” said Skosana in parliament.

‘Clean ministers’

Zondo said for the country to effectively rid itself of corruption, it needs to hold the executive to account and not compromise on those who serve in the highest offices of the land.

ALSO READ: Why the ANC remains a safe haven for corruption

He said that those facing corruption allegations should not be appointed to any positions.

“There are many people who have no allegations of fraud or corruption hanging over their heads who qualify to be ministers,” said Zondo.

“Even in the same party, there is no reason why somebody should be appointed before they clear themselves of such allegations. But also, there are people in public service who are allowed to continue with their work as usual even when there are findings of wrongdoing against them. The state simply allows them to continue. This is not the kind of leadership we need if we are going to fight corruption.”

READ NEXT: ‘Same as Phala Phala’ – Police committee member not optimistic about Mchunu investigations