CR cracks his whip as Covid-19 corruption mushrooms; MTN; Zim; Rand

By Jackie Cameron

  • President Cyril Ramaphosa has unveiled yet another raft of plans to deal with the corrupt and the captured, including detailed reporting on which companies have been approved to supply Covid-19 services. He has appointed a Committee of Ministers to deal with allegations of corruption associated with the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, his office said. Chaired by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, the committee will look into corruption in the procurement of goods and services sourced for the purpose of containing and responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. The includes the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE). “To assist the committee in its assessment of Covid-19-related procurement, President Ramaphosa has requested all Ministers and Premiers to provide information on the names of companies and details of tenders and contracts that have been awarded in national departments, provincial governments and public entities during the period of the National State of Disaster”.
  • And, at a BizNews webinar, the country’s law-enforcement bosses gave details on steps the authorities have been taking to get people like the Gupta brothers and their friends to court – and they also told how corruption is mushrooming around Covid-19 funds. Listen! For more on that, visit BizNews where you can watch the entire webinar or catch up on the key points in various articles that have been published on the site. SA’s prosecuting authorities have provided granular detail on how the country is tackling the big corruption cases and they have also revealed the scale of Covid-19 corruption.
  • MTN is withdrawing from the Middle East. The Middle East “environment is becoming increasingly complex and it contributes less to the group’s earnings,” Chief Executive Officer Rob Shuter said Thursday. The South African operator is used to working in certain risky markets, which in some instances has left it vulnerable to legal entanglements, unpredictable politics and regulatory crackdowns, says Bloomberg. In Iran, the company has been involved in a years-long legal battle over a telecom license, although no claims have succeeded, it says. In Afghanistan, MTN moved to get claims dismissed that it was involved with payments to the Taliban to protect its infrastructure, it adds.
  • SA ministers are in talks with Zimbabwean counterparts in connection with problems north of the Limpopo. South Africa’s ruling African National Congress also signalled a departure from its usual hands-off approach, with its Secretary-General Ace Magashule announcing that the party will hold a special session to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe. “We see what is happening in Zimbabwe,” Magashule told the Johannesburg-based broadcaster eNCA in an interview on Thursday. “The president is interacting with the president of Zimbabwe, worried about what is taking place there and it will have a spillover to South Africa.” Zimbabwean authorities have downplayed the recent upheaval.

 

Comments

 

As a matter of personal opinion regarding your stories that CR is cracking down on corruption. CR is not cracking the whip on anything. It is just lip service as he does not have the backbone nor the political will  to act against people like Ace, the Zumas and all the other criminals in government whose family is doing unethical business with the government (corruption, stealing).

So I must state that I disagree totally with your news story that CR is doing anything to curb corruption, he is just not capable of doing that and hope he does not serve another term as, under his watch, things have gone from bad to worse.

This is only my humble opinion.

T

Visited 3,243 times, 1 visit(s) today