[civsoc-mw] FW: corruption in Mw and SA, Business Day SA

Fri Jul 16 12:59:18 CAT 2021

 <https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/> Opinion 

Confronting corruption 

SA would do well to follow Malawi's example 

15 July 2021 - 17:02 Revolution Dube and Sarah Hudleston 

<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4zGDGjhXjSKVuwhkwc2Lwq0fWQ-rPU_3Ynz8NStp6
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Lazarus Chakwera addresses supporters. Picture: REUTERS/Eldson Chagara 

Malawian president Lazarus Chakwera, who took office after defeating Peter
Mutharika in the June 2020 election, has not wasted time fulfilling his
campaign promises, moving with commendable speed. 

Contrast that with his SA counterpart, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who on
being elected president three years ago promised to restore confidence in
the governing party and root out the culture of corruption that had become
entrenched during former president Jacob Zuma's tenure.

It has been a long, hard road for Ramaphosa. The ANC is in crisis and fast
losing credibility. And he has a lot on his plate in addition to the
corruption that has even ensnared his health minister in an escalating
Covid-19 pandemic, including escalating factional battles in the governing
party and now violent protests and looting that have dealt a heavy blow to
the economic recovery and vaccine rollout. It is clear that the
beneficiaries of past patronage will not give up the perks of proximity to
power easily.

There is no doubt that Ramaphosa has the best of intentions, and with the
right support could drag SA towards a brighter future. But right now he is
tap-dancing on the spot. As the past few days of lawlessness have shown,
tackling unemployment is an imperative, with estimates putting as much as
75% of the "born-free" generation out of work. 

Kick-starting a new era of job creation must be a priority for the Ramaphosa
administration, and like Chakwera he will need both policy reform and the
support of the international community to succeed.

Tough decisions must be made. And one of them must surely be an end to the
restrictive BEE regulations that have given rise to corrupt "tenderpreneur"
contracts that exclude a big chunk of the economy and serve only to inflate
prices and encourage the emigration of hard-working, taxpaying professionals
- black and white - to places like Canada, the UK, Australia and New
Zealand.

In direct contrast, Chakwera, who on election promised to lead by example -
pledging to declare his assets every year, reduce the powers of the
president, root out corruption and face parliamentary questions as a way of
correcting decades of misgovernance - has made demonstrable progress doing
just that. Granted, unlike Ramaphosa he has the full support of his cabinet,
his government and the electorate, who were sick of years of corruption
under the Mutharika regime. He does not have to constantly deal with
factional battles within the governing party and face repeated threats to
his political survival while also trying to run the country. 

The scale of the corruption in SA and Malawi also differs greatly. Chakwera
claims about $1bn (R14.3bn) was stolen from Malawi's coffers during Peter
Mutharika's presidency. In comparison, SA's state capture by the Gupta
family and their SA accomplices is estimated to have resulted in the looting
of R100bn and counting.

Chakwera's efforts to fight corruption have also been boosted by the
appointment of Martha Chizuma, a fearless legal bulldozer, as head of the
Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). The result-orientated and industrious
Chizuma made history by becoming the first woman to head the bureau. She has
a track record of getting things done when given the space and time. Just
after taking over as bureau head in June, Chimuza launched a probe into the
National Oil Company of Malawi's procurement process, which has long been
marred by irregularities and corruption.

Though Chakwera has been criticised for selecting a cabinet that is 70% from
his home turf, the central region, it has so far demonstrated that no-one is
above the law in Malawi by bringing to book several people in high office.
While Ramaphosa appears to be making similar efforts to get to the root of
corruption, his tenuous position in the ANC and relative strength of the
Zuma-aligned faction has meant he has had to bide his time and rely on
institutions such as the Special Investigating Unit to flush out corrupt
elements in the party.

The most important step Ramaphosa has taken so far is the Zondo state
capture commission, which indirectly led to the jailing of Zuma for contempt
of court and the eruption of violent protest and looting of the past few
days. Even so, the law has been allowed to take its course, and important
precedents have been set.

Both Ramaphosa and Chakwera have had to deal with corruption arising from
the response to the coronavirus pandemic involving senior government
officials and even ministers. But the way they have dealt with the alleged
culprits differs. In Malawi, labour minister Ken Kandodo was fired forthwith
for misappropriation of Covid-19 funds, while in SA health minister Zweli
Mkhize was eventually put on special leave pending further investigation
after being accused of rubber-stamping a R150m contract favouring his former
aides' communications company. 

While the ANC's national working committee suspended six top- ranking
officials, including secretary-general Ace Magashule and former minister
Bongani Bongo, it has become clear that the factional battles within the ANC
have had a severely negative affect on governance and service delivery, and
there is rising public pressure for this to change. 

The SA government would do well to follow Malawi's example and freeze the
accounts of those who have been accused of corruption while efforts are made
to recover money that has been stolen or earned through corrupt practices,
beginning with the Guptas and including politicians. It is important to the
maintenance of the rule of law that impunity is not seen to be the norm.

The last decade has shown that the Sadc and the AU are toothless bodies,
incapable of defending democracy or even encouraging good governance among
member states. Their handling of Zimbabwe is a case in point. It is
therefore up to members such as SA and Malawi to set the example by running
clean economies that are free of corruption. 

. Dube is an academic with a master's degree in international relations and
politics. Hudleston is a journalist and author of Face of Courage: A
Biography of Morgan Tsvangirai' 

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