Under the current president, nothing appears to have changed. The appointment of Shamila Batohi has not led to any of the politicians, accused of corruption, being prosecuted. The number of criminal cases opened at various police stations, and then never heard from again must run into thousands, maybe, hundreds of thousands. The “Hawks”, are however roped in to act against the spouses, or girl-friends of political figures, and action is then immediate, leading to arrests and court appearances. The average citizen therefore can be forgiven for believing, that the hawks are a unit expressly for the benefit of ANC politicians.
It is also not only ANC politicians who seem to benefit from “no investigation” and “no prosecution”, the DA apparently laid a criminal charge, about 2 years ago, against former Cape Town mayor, Patricia deLille. No further word about this case has been heard. In the meantime, Ms. deLille, has been appointed as a cabinet minister, obviously, as a reward for creating havoc within the DA. No word about the pending criminal charge against her. Amazingly, the DA have also been very quiet on the subject.
The NPA has taken no action against certain senior prosecutors, in spite of damning evidence, in connection with the case against Johan Booysens and the so-called “death squad”. The fact that none of the advocates involved have been criminally charged, is bad enough, but at least 2 of the main perpetrators, were actually promoted, and moved to another province. Are we supposed to trust the NPA?
Mr. Jacob Zuma has to date not been charged with corruption in the matter of the bribe paid to a previous NDPP (he was given an irregular golden handshake of R17 million), in spite of the fact that a judge found that the payment made to Mr. Nxasana, amounted to bribery. Therefore Mr. Zuma has in fact, already been found guilty of a crime in a court of law, the NPA has totally ignored this. There are many other politicians, against whom there is credible evidence of wrong-doing, that are simply never charged, and all we hear from the NPA, is that these things take time. Whistle blowers are frequently charged in double quick time (eg. Angelo Agrizzi). Some whistle blowers get fired, and have a variety of criminal and civil cases thrown at them, while the main offenders are not even questioned.
The case against J. Malema, also raises eyebrows, this case was struck off the roll, supposedly because one of the co-accused was ill. I am not sure I can believe that, it is much more likely that Mr. Malema has a lot of information on the dirty deeds of various ANC leaders, and this makes them fearful of charging him. The NPA did have a case strong enough to take to court, yet they have refrained from proceeding, now that the co-accused has recovered. What is the average citizen supposed to think about this situation?
Books have been written, giving graphic descriptions of numerous cases of wrong doing, not one of the people mentioned in such books has ever brought legal action against the authors or publishers. Ace Magashule threatened legal action, but so far, has done absolutely nothing. We therefore must assume that allegations, made in such books, is accurate and factual, since the information is not contested.
Our judiciary, has so far managed to avoid serious criticism, with notable exceptions. These exceptions are, of course, John Hlope of the Western Cape high court, and the judge in control of the “arms deal” investigation, judge Seriti. However, at a lower level it has been my personal experience that magistrates cannot be trusted. I can personally attest, that the Magistrates in Middelburg EC and Cradock EC, can and do, ignore the law with impunity. Citizens cannot sue a magistrate for deliberately making illegal orders, they apparently have “immunity”. This lowest level of justice is the one that most citizens have to deal with, on a day to day basis, if they cannot be trusted, then the very fabric of society is at risk.
The parliament of the RSA, is riddled with people accused of corruption, many of them occupy senior positions, in cabinet or chairing parliamentary committees. This is all part of the supposed “new dawn” we heard so much about. Of course, all these people are INNOCENT, because they have not been proven guilty. What will it take to wake the masses in SA, and finally vote out the ANC. It is only by voting out the ANC, that the average citizen will ever see justice, actually happen.
Those, in parliament, against whom there are serious allegations, are as follows; D.D. Mabusa (deputy president), Bheki Cele (police minister), Bongani Bongo, Bathebile Dlamini, David Mahlobo, Fikile Mbalula, Nathi Mthetwa, Faith Muthambi, Mosebenzi Zwane and David van Rooyen. This is by no means a comprehensive list, it is merely a few of the best known. There are many others in the civil service, SOE’s etc, who continue to deplete public funds.
So why have the citizens of this country continued to vote for the ANC? It is perhaps because the opposition parties have failed to point out to voters what the effects of corruption are, on their daily lives. If the voters were aware that the combined debt of government, SOE’s and municipalities, in effect means that every citizen of the country carries a load debt, probably in excess of R120,000.00. If voters were aware of this, I think they would reconsider voting for the ANC. The really scary thing is that this debt is rising rapidly. This is all without taking into account the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The opposition parties have also failed to point out to voters that the ANC have deployed some of the most questionable people in the country, into senior positions. The voters are unaware that we will soon be forced to cut government expenditure, social grants will be among the first items the state will have to cut back on, no matter which party is in power.
The ANC government, has in effect, stolen the future of our youth, as well as the future of their grand-children.
To repair the damage of 26 years of corruption and misrule, will take at least 30 years of careful management. No opposition party seems aware of this, and the voters are not being informed.
