Paul O’Sullivan pays tribute to Andrew Mlangeni and his efforts to fight corruption in South Africa. Mlangeni is the last surviving anti-apartheid activist convicted with Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia Trial, which took place between October 1963 and June 1964. O’Sullivan is the founder of Forensics for Justice, a non-profit organisation committed to exposing politically corrupt individuals in South Africa. A forensic investigator, he has campaigned tirelessly to put graft-tainted individuals behind bars. He played an instrumental role in getting South African Police Service chief Jackie Selebi and gangland boss Radovan Krejcir and his accomplices who worked for the state investigative unit, the Hawks, into the dock. O’ Sullivan was a key source in the Jacques Pauw bestseller, The President’s Keepers, that exposed details of state capture. – Editor
By Paul O’Sullivan
Meeting the man behind the legacy
Two years ago, I had the honour of joining Andrew Mlangeni, along with Lord Peter Hain, Prince Harry, and Meghan at the launch of the Mandela Centenary exhibition in London. He then invited me to lunch with the Lord Mayor of London after he received the coveted ‘Freedom of the City’ award.
I commented on what a fine man he was, and humble, too. In particular, I said he invigorated my anti-corruption efforts. Andrew Mlangeni was outspoken on the need for government to stop corruption and start delivering the services expected of it. Sadly, many in the ANC totally ignored his sound advice. Now the sole surviving Rivonia trialist has been called to higher service, without his and his comrades’ dreams of good governance in South Africa having been fulfilled. It means he went to his grave worrying about the state of the country.
The wheels of justice
Throughout the following year, we at Forensics for Justice took on some seriously corrupt individuals, and the wheels of justice continued to turn. Transnet cancelled a corruptly-awarded contract in favour of a BEE front led by CMC di Ravenna. Months later, the Kenyan government issued warrants of arrest for CMC di Ravenna’s Italian king-pin, Paulo Porcelli. Porcelli’s BEE frontman and Zuma loyalist Philani Mavundla has yet to be interviewed by the police, proving that the criminal justice system remains captured.
In early 2019 we opened a criminal case against Tony Trindade, a patently corrupt man who has helped bring Eskom to its knees, along with CMC di Ravenna, who were also paid billions of rands for incompetent construction at Ingula, a pumped storage hydropower station in the Drakensberg. At least Trindade has been arrested, charged, and is awaiting trial, along with corrupt senior executives at Eskom.
The fight continues
Sadly, Andrew Mlangeni won’t get to see the legacy he hoped for. However, he can rest in peace, assured that something can and will be done about the corruption in South Africa. I was surprised at how many people who assisted the corrupt Zuma regime had the audacity to publicly laud Andrew Mlangeni. This while being involved in supporting another corrupt regime. It’s proof that bigotry is alive and well in South Africa.
The fight against corruption has not stopped. However, the tide has turned and all South Africans must remain alert and on their guard. Theft of the country’s resources by a corrupt few, together with the laying to waste of once-great, state-owned companies, can and will be punished. Forensics for Justice will continue the fight, not only in memory of Andrew Mlangeni but for all South Africans. In particular, the poorest of the poor who have suffered most from the lost decade of Zuma’s regime.
At the ripe old age of 95, Andrew Mlangeni may have stopped playing golf, but we’ll keep swinging on his behalf until South Africa’s criminal justice system is functioning properly. We also hope that the ruling party will either rid itself of those who are unfit for parliament or that it will be replaced with a cleaner party of the people.
