President Cyril Ramaphosa promised to take a hands-on approach to fighting corruption linked to Covid-19 funds when he addressed the nation earlier this month. Finance minister Tito Mboweni added his voice, provoking a backlash this week when he was adamant to his 833k Twitter followers that it is “game over” for the crooked and the captured.
In a powerful piece attracting a lot of interest on BizNews.com, columnist Paul Hoffman of Accountability Now picks out some reasons no progress ever seems to be made in getting into the dock political figures we all know are guilty of corruption.
And, also on top form, civil society’s sleuth-in-chief Paul O’Sullivan reminds us that corruption is a game two sides play. In the absence of state action against lawyers who aid and abet wrongdoers, O’Sullivan calls on citizens to help bring law firm Hogan Lovells to its knees.
Many of the 8,000 or so people who reacted to Mboweni sent back the resounding message that they don’t believe, for one minute, that graft connected to Covid-19 efforts will be dealt with effectively. This underscores the point that justice must be seen to be done for the concept of justice to work at all.
PS: How will President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC be judged on their performance in the Covid-19 pandemic in future elections? Join the discussion with Linda van Tilburg of BizNews, IRR CEO Dr Frans Cronjé and independent political analyst Dr Ralph Mathekga. Register here for the BizNews Midweek Catch-up Webinar: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730147365502274830.
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