Election years are notably different. Ordinary people suddenly have the ear of government, you are actively courted by political parties and are on the receiving end of myriad promises, some of which have waiting periods from one election year to the next.
The media is replete with reportage on commissions and inquiries currently underway in South Africa, all intent on unearthing the truth – the truth about State capture and corruption (Zondo Commision), the truth about the fitness of two top officials in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to hold office (Mokgoro Commission), the truth about tax administration and governance at SARS (the Nugent Inquiry) and the truth about the PIC, Africa’s largest asset manager (the Mpati Commission).
President Cyril Ramaphosa did indeed provide relief to a nation fatigued by corruption, capture and abuse of public funds by setting up or boosting these commissions of inquiry within nine months of his assumption of duties. He committed to cleaning up SARS, seeking new leadership at the NPA and at several State-owned enterprises (SOEs) including Eskom, PRASA, the SABC, Denel, and Transnet. He committed to unearthing the truth and setting the country on the right track.
Recent days have witnessed tensions at an Eldorado Park Secondary School and new ones at primary schools in Schweizer-Reneke and in Matatiele.
The FW de Klerk Foundation – in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation -hosted our Annual Conference in Cape Town on 1 February. Our theme
The Employment Equity Amendment Bill, now before Parliament, is the latest move in a long process that is progressively diminishing the economic space within which minorities can operate.
It is, of course, essential that the economy must be open to all South Africans at all levels – but this can be achieved far more effectively through natural economic evolution and by prohibiting unfair discrimination than by imposing a system in which appointments, promotions and tenders are based on race rather than on individual merit and effort.
The Amendment Bill will give the Minister of Labour the power to establish sectoral numerical targets to ensure “equitable representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups (black South Africans, women and persons with disabilities) at all occupational levels in the workforce.” “Designated employers” – i.e. those that employ more than 50 people – will have to ensure that the “numerical goals” in their employment equity plans comply with the applicable sectoral numerical target.
Twenty-five years have passed since the cold winter’s day in Oslo when Nelson Mandela and I were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
In my acceptance speech I observed that peace was a frame of mind:
“It is a frame of mind in which countries, communities, parties and individuals seek to resolve their differences through agreements, through negotiation and compromise, instead of threats, compulsion and violence.”
I said that peace was also a framework.
“It is a framework consisting of rules, laws, agreements and conventions – a framework providing mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of the inevitable clashes of interest between countries, communities, parties and individuals. It is a framework within which the irresistible and dynamic processes of social, economic and political development can be regulated and accommodated.”
The United Nations (UN) has numerous days on the annual calendar dedicated to some or other cause or campaign. Many of these pass by almost unnoticed. International Anti-Corruption Day, commemorated on 9 December every year, should not be one of those. For South Africans, this day, is (unfortunately) all too real.
The UN brought together a number of nations 15 years ago to adopt the Convention Against Corruption. Today, 186 states are party to the Convention and subscribe to its anti-corruption goals and ideals. In terms of the Convention, nearly every country in the world has laws in place making corruption a crime. Every country has further committed, through the well-known Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “to reducing corruption and bribery, strengthening the recovery and return of stolen assets and developing effective, inclusive and transparent institutions”.
The full weight of expectation of the country now rests on newly-appointed National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Advocate Shamila Batohi. Her appointment by President Ramaphosa on 4 December 2018, was received with both relief and hope that she will repair and lead the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) into a future that is unsullied.
The question of course is that of whether the nation pins its hope – yet again – on “a fixer”, in the absence of the drive to engage systematic and urgent change. Advocate Batohi comes to the position with impeccable credentials and minus the taint of some of her predecessors but will have to contend with an already overflowing inbox; a team that is politically divided and a mission to rejuvenate credibility in the criminal justice system. All this, at a time when too many South Africans appear to be jaded. However, history has proven again and again that South Africans are a feisty lot – with opinions to match – and the new NDPP will receive ample advice even in advance of her assumption of duties in February 2019.
The phenomenon of load-shedding is hanging over the festive season of 2018 like a dark cloud. For many, across the country, their festivities might happen by candlelight, which may add to the ambience but will predictably cast a shadow over any possible and much-needed economic recovery.
Naive South Africans believed that with a new President and a new Minister of Public Enterprises, plus a new Eskom Board, Eskom should be functioning optimally, and load-shedding was something of the past and would be over. The fact is that corruption and mismanagement cast a long shadow and cannot be turned around quickly. Additionally, incapable, inexperienced and corrupt officials (evidenced by the design faults at Medupi and Kusile) can’t be fired at will without the requisite due process, which is a supreme irony, considering the damage that they have caused. It is therefore important to state that the present load-shedding – with feeble excuses from Eskom about lack of capacity and needed maintenance, and uranium left out to get wet – is a bad hangover from the Zupta era. So is the fact that Eskom is in deep financial crisis and continuously dependent on State bail-outs.
