The release yesterday of The Great Bank Heist, the forensic investigation report into the affairs of VBS Bank, has seen a wave of outrage surge around the nation, as details emerged of how R1.9-billion was looted. VBS started off in 1982 as a small specialist corporate finance and retail bank, and today is at the centre of a vast thieving syndicate.
This week Corruption Watch and the Right2Know Campaign submitted damning new evidence to the High Court that the Arms Deal Commission failed to do its job. This is an important step in the civil society group’s ongoing challenge against the commission’s findings. The new evidence shows that the commission not only failed in its investigation – but it misled the public.
Political interference destabilised the country’s elite anti- corruption unit as the unit continuously lost experienced members who refused to “play ball”. The highly effective Scorpions were replaced by the Hawks, who have a dismal track record in arrests and convictions.
The resignation of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene has been accepted by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Former Reserve Bank governer Tito Mboweni was sworn in on 9 October as South Africa’s third finance minister in eight months. Nene had admitted, after first denying it, that he had met with the Gupta brothers several times – the Guptas are deeply implicated in the on-going state capture saga and their dealings are under scrutiny at the Zondo Commission for state capture.
Finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, giving testimony this week before the Zondo Commission, said that when former president Jacob Zuma told him in 2015 he was to be moved to a senior position at the new BRICS development bank, he knew immediately the deployment was a fabrication.
A recent BBC investigation uncovered signs that KZN judicial officers are involved in helping rhino poachers get away with murder. “If elements of South Africa’s justice system prove to be corrupt it not only threatens rhinos and allows poachers to act with impunity, but it compromises the police and the justice system in other cases as well,” wrote Alastair Leithead in his exposé.
Parliament is currently considering amendments to the Auditing Profession Act that will, among others, allow the minister of finance to determine, at his discretion, the maximum fine to be imposed on a firm or individual found guilty of malpractice – the current maximum fine is R200 000. It will also give the IRBA, South Africa’s auditing watchdog, powers to subpoena information needed to complete investigations, and to refer matters to other accredited professional bodies for investigation.