Perhaps the most depressing and distressing part about the corruption we find ourselves in, is the point that the ruling party, in particular, allowed it to fester, and plant deep roots.
The warning signs, and indeed the genesis of the modus operandi which were to become perfected in design and execution were there. Think back to the revelations that homeland leaders in the former Transkei and Bophuthatswana were handsomely rewarded by Sun International head honcho, the late Sol Kerzner for granting lucrative gaming licences.
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A few years into the new dispensation, when the new administration went on a shopping spree for new arms, it was an open secret that connected individuals had amassed huge fortunes as middlemen and agents to international arms manufacturers.
Of course many years later the Seriti Commission, appointed by then president Jacob Zuma found no wrongdoing in the entire saga.
The only unfortunate victim was Tony Yengeni, fingered for receiving a discount on a luxury Mercedes SUV. Of course, the pictures of him being carried shoulder high into the prison gates by ululating comrades illustrated the disdain the court’s decision was regarded with.
As was to be expected, he spent but a fraction of his sentence ensconced in a cell with a luxury double bed, and other niceties that regular prisoners could dream of.
Wherever justice was seen to be done in sentencing by upstanding magistrates or judges, means were found, or created to circumvent. The infamous ‘medical parole’ granted Shabir Shaik who was said to be on his deathbed, and more recently the incarcerated ex-president resident Zuma by Arthur Fraser.
At the parastatals such as SAA back in the 1990s, then CEO Khaya Nquala set the tone by using helicopters to jet around to meetings while on overseas trips, with nothing but a minor reprimand.
We don’t have to revisit in this article what has happened at the likes of Transnet and Eskom in the intervening years. It is interesting to read more recently, that senior managers and boards do not have to embark on dodgy procurement deals to raid the coffers of the country.
All they do is vote themselves huge salary increases, or commissions like Hlaudi Motsoeneng did at the SABC, or many CEOs of state entities such as the Road Traffic Management Agency.
So the likes of the ‘Travelgate’ scandal in the early 2000s when MPs falsified travel claims for self-enrichment are now regarded as ‘small potatoes’. A R100 000 is regarded as chump change to the initiated and experienced practitioners. An interesting side note is that recently perjury convictee and ANC Women’s League ‘No I will not step aside’ Bathible Dlamini was one of the culprits of Travelgate.
Implicated MPs were simply allowed to pay back their ill-gotten gains (in instalments nogal)-not even a slap on the wrist! So from little acorns do mighty oaks grow….The scale and complexity of the schemes to plunder the state coffers are well documented.
I have written previously about the hundreds of millions extracted by Gupta surrogates Trillian and Regiments Capital at Transnet and Eskom through asset and loan swap deals. I remember smiling to myself when I heard Smuts Ngonyama responding to criticism about him being a beneficiary in Telkom’s privatisation deal about 10 years ago…. ‘ I didn’t join the revolution to be poor’ .
The ruling party has without doubt, reaped what they sowed.
Vijay Naidoo is the CEO of the Port Shepstone Business Forum. He writes in his personal capacity. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.
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