Brazen corruption exposed especially during one of the most difficult times we have ever had to confront as a country – the Covid-19 pandemic – is under the spotlight. Outrageous incidents have increasingly hogged headlines. This piece, written by Corruption Watch’s website editor Janine Erasmus, examines the government response – are we finally seeing signs of real anti-corruption action?
The #PayTheGrants campaign is urging the government to make sure that the Covid-19 R3500 social relief of distress grant continues to be paid to beneficiaries. Over 15-million people had registered for the grant but only 4.4-million people had received the grant, something the campaign says must be fixed. It is also calling for the grant, which is expected to end in October, to carry on past this date.
By donning an orange mask on Fridays, the public can show their anger at the rampant Covid-19 related corruption which has dominated the news in recent weeks. CW is one of the organisations calling for the orange mask protest.
The Auditor-General of South Africa has warned that a continuation of the reckless and irregular use of funds set aside for Covid-19 relief will effectively wipe out all emergency efforts. The first of the AGSA’s Covid-19 audit reports was released on 2 September, and opacity, mismanagement, lack of fraud prevention mechanisms, and questionable transactions were the order of the day.
Corruption Watch and the Public Affairs Research Institute have written an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa and finance minister Tito Mboweni, urging them to seize current opportunities to put lasting procurement reforms in place. The two organisations are sceptical of the president’s stated shock at the large-scale corruption exposed by Covid-19, saying that South Africans expected exactly this situation.
In this tongue-in-cheek post for the Global Anticorruption Blog, Harvard law professor Matthew Stephenson puts forward his view that the phrase there is no panacea for corruption is retired forthwith, as it is nothing more than “an unnecessary caveat when discussing this or that anti-corruption measure”.
The South African Social Security Agency had promised to pay R350 per beneficiary for the Covid-19 social relief of distress grant. About 15-million people were estimated to benefit from the fund but it was reported in the media that only 4.4-million had received the monies. The C19 People’s Coalition is calling for Sassa to pull up its socks and deliver on its promise.
The announcement that all Covid-19 tender contracts awarded under the state of disaster are now published and freely available is good news, but it must be followed by harsh punishment for those found guilty of corruption. South Africa needs to see commitment from government towards taking action that will match its strong rhetoric, because the country is as tired of empty promises as it is of corruption.
Almost three years after the Steinhoff scandal broke, former CEO and alleged fraud mastermind Markus Jooste and his cronies have still not been brought to book. In a recent BizNews radio interview Sipho Ngwema, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, was asked to clarify the delay.