Why the President and the ANC are at a T-junction

I haven’t yet written about the revelation of large scale corruption that has hit the headlines over the last few weeks.

To be honest, I was struggling to find words (which is rare for me). It wasn’t that I was surprised. In fact the opposite. When it became known in late March that the state was going to need gigantic amounts of protective gear to deal with the epidemic, I shuddered.

It did not take a crystal ball or some political genius to have predicted that there would be corruption.

We all know that the Zuma years created a culture of stealing and entitlement to financial largess by some of the political elite. They have not disappeared, neither have they gone to jail, and given that the Disaster Management Act makes it possible for certain short cuts to be taken in procurement, corruption was a foregone conclusion.

Still when it hit the headlines, it really upset me ,and I wasn’t the only one if social media is anything to go by.  For many people, this felt worse than any other corruption – even though the actual rands and cents are a drop in the bucket compared to the Gupta, Bosasa, and other state capture dramas.

So why did this upset us so much more?

I think the first reason is the obvious one: This money was intended to buy equipment to protect the medical personnel who are putting their lives on the line to save our lives. So now the nurses in the Eastern Cape hospitals and many other public institutions have to either make do with nothing, or recycle unsafe equipment or use plastic bags over their clothes. All while some politically connected elites and their families buy another posh car, house, or Gucci outfit. 

It is hard to find anything more morally repugnant than this.

Secondly, it showed how broken the procurement process has become. How is it that the system did not pick up that these people were political connected (their surnames are after all pretty well known) or that the prices were so horribly inflated when the whole country knows what a mask retails for?  This leaves us with a sense of hopelessness about politics and our leaders in general, which in turn creates serious doubts about the future of the country.

Which leads me to the third reason for our anger and despair  - disappointment. We all hoped that a new dawn had truly arrived – at least when it comes to corruption – under Ramaphosa. 

Yet, here we are again…

Not only did it not stop, but commentator after commentator tells us that Ramaphosa is unable or even unwilling to do anything about it.

As much as I share the deep frustration, disappointment, and anger of everyone in the country, I disagree with these commentators.

Firstly, let’s remind ourselves that where there is money and power there is corruption.

It happens everywhere in the world. When I first arrived in Ireland they had just gone through various public tribunals which exposed corruption on a scale that would impress even the Guptas.

The key question with corruption is not whether it happens, but what happens after it happens.

Under Zuma, nothing happened. Well, in truth, something did happen – the thieves were protected, promoted, and those who spoke out against it were vilified. During the Zuma years, ANC people would whisper to me about people involved in corruption, but they were petrified to speak out, since that could mean the end of their political careers.

We are seeing a totally different situation today. If we just look at the reaction of the President and even ANC structures to the recent revelations, one can see a world of difference.

The reactions of various ANC Provincial Executives to the corruption allegations would have been unheard of in the ANC of the last 10 years. It is as if they are now competing about which province can act most decisively.

More important has been the President’s reaction.

I have never seen Cyril Ramaphosa as angry as he was on the night of 23 July when he spoke to the nation about amongst others the PPE corruption.

Like Madiba, Ramaphosa rarely shows anger, but when he does it is earth-shattering. His fury was also clear in his presidential letter to the nation a few days later. Contrary to some press reports, I have been told over and over again by NEC members that at the latest NEC meeting he was furiously resolute in his commitment to bring the guilty parties to book.

He has also put his money where his mouth is (a bit of an unfortunate metaphor under current circumstances). The SIU investigation, the special panel of ministers, giving powers to the NPA to get information from the Zondo Commission investigators (which apparently has some ANC people shaking in their boots), the immediate suspension of his spokesperson are all signs of a President serious about dealing with these issues.

Of course many argue that this is not enough. “Why has he not had them arrested or thrown in jail and why does he not fire those in the ANC who are accused of corruption?” they ask.

The answer is simply because he can’t… well not while we live in a constitutional state. For Ramaphosa to do what so many want him to do - and some analysts imply is necessary for him to show leadership - would require him to act both dictatorially and unconstitutionally. 

That should simply not happen and we must resist that kind of populist talk. As frustrating as it is we have to support Ramaphosa’s commitment to bringing these thieves to book through the courts and independent prosecuting authorities. 

This takes time, but there is no other way, because the price of having a dictator as a president – as benevolent as he might be – would be infinitely higher than any amount of stealing and state capture. 

As a nation we are paying a really big price for the degradation of morality under Zuma. It is going to take a long time to fix that and take a gigantic effort to do so.

But perhaps COVID has done us a favour when it comes to corruption. I have no doubt that we have reached a tipping point and the message is clear:

This is not good enough!

We as a country expect better from those who are meant to represent us. Not only will we no longer accept it when billions (or millions) disappear into the pockets of powerful political operatives, but we insist that they are exposed and punished.

The President and the ANC are at a T-junction now. How they deal with this scandal in the next few weeks and months will determine not only how Ramaphosa and the ANC will go down in history, but also the future of this country.