No self-respecting theatre critic would dream of reviewing a three-Act play during the interval at the end of the first Act. But that is what one is compelled to do after South Africa’s State Capture Commission released Part 1 of its inquiry report.
This is more so because those implicated by its findings will be doing all they can to undermine the credibility of its reports. And in keeping with this dramatic theme, spoiler alert: My view is that deputy chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who chaired the commission, has nailed it. In response, many will ask the question: has he really? And, even if he has: so what?
In light of the apparent weaknesses in South Africa’s state capacity and institutions, there is understandable scepticism as to whether the government has the technical capability, let alone the political will, to implement the many recommendations that are emerging from the painstaking labour of the deputy chief justice and his small band of support staff and lawyers.
President Cyril Ramaphosa described receiving the report as a “defining moment” in South Africa’s history. It could yet be so. But only if the work of the Commission leads to decisive action and systemic reform.
Without this, the Zondo Commission will merely have been an exercise in catharsis – not the first steps to delivering justice and accountability.
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The hearings themselves, and the extraordinary range of evidence that was adduced before the Commission, certainly provided catharsis, but also ‘truth’.
For those with open eyes, the denuding of democratic state legitimacy was uncovered and the key protagonists – both perpetrators and victims – were identified.
The democratic state was captured; key institutions were looted as vast sums of public money were stolen. Former president Jacob Zuma and his motley network of exploited and exploitative allies were responsible.
That much is abundantly clear from just part one of Zondo’s report. Now they must be held fully to account. Justice will need to be done.
Zondo was appointed to chair the Commission almost four years ago in January 2018. This was after then-President Zuma had tried and failed to prevent it from being established as a part of the remedial action required by then Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in her October 2016 ‘State of Capture’ report.
The Commission’s first hearing was six months later. Thereafter it sat for more than 400 more days, interviewing 300 witnesses and yielding 75,000 pages of transcription.
In all, 1,438 individuals and institutions have been implicated, according to the introduction to the document published on 4 January.
Given the cost of the inquiry – and the 1.7 million pages of evidence – a further question arises: was it worth the time, effort and expense? Having read through the 874 pages of this first part, a number of notable features emerge.
First of all, it is lucid and cogent, despite the regrettable absence of an executive summary. The public will have to wait until the publication of Part 3 of the report at the end of February to review the executive report.
Despite this unusual inversion, the executive report will still matter a great deal, and will require skilled wordsmithery if it is to provide the public with a clear story line.
This will, in turn, help ensure that the report remains ‘alive’ in the public eye and does not get pushed into the background by other events – as has happened with similar reports in the past, such as the Asmal report on Chapter Nine institutions as well as the Farlam report on Marikana massacre. To allow the report to gather dust would be a huge waste of the investment in the Zondo Commission.
Despite the absence of an overarching narrative summary, each chapter of part one presents an intricate and fascinating account of how three public entities – South African Airways (SAA), the government’s information arm (GCIS) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) – were systematically ‘captured’ with criminal intent, and how misinformation, both through the diversion of public funds to a puppet-media organisation, The New Age, and the subversion of GCIS, was used to try and cover up what was going on.
There were notorious key ringmasters, some well known already. These include Zuma, former SAA chair Dudu Myeni and Mzwanele Manyi, Zuma’s current spokesman and the man who was helicoptered in to head GCIS after the incumbent Themba Maseko was summarily dismissed, according to the report, at the behest of the Gupta family.
But, now, a much wider cast of accomplices and useful idiots are exposed. Private entities, such as the consulting firm Bain, where the evidence of whistleblower Athol Williams is applauded by Zondo, were also deeply complicit.
Secondly, it reads like a legal judgment, which is how it should be. The concern was that Zondo might fail to grasp the nettle and either shirk the most difficult issues or fudge its findings – as the Marikana massacre report did, on the core issues such as police culpability in the murder of the miners. He has not.
Assisted by some trusted former judicial colleagues, but under his attentive eye, Zondo has recognised the need to be both specific and precise. As a mountain of evidence was combined and the report constructed, the strategy was to provide a sound basis for prosecutions. The dots have now been joined.
A vast database of evidence can now be placed at the disposal of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, and the National Prosecuting Authority.
In due course, no doubt, the legal coherence and rationality of the report will be tested in court. There will be numerous judicial review applications that will seek to obscure the picture and delay justice. It may be another four years before the whole process concludes – the completion of the Commission’s work is just the start.
Thirdly, flowing from the findings, part one of the report offers concrete recommendations. Some recommend that certain implicated persons are either investigated or prosecuted. In other instances, the report addresses institutional failings or legal gaps.
So, for example, in chapter four of this first part – on public procurement – Zondo recommends that a new institution be created to which whistleblowers can go (a Public Procurement Anti-Corruption Agency), and, furthermore, that the new agency have authority to negotiate a financial incentive for potential whistleblowers.
These are very concrete recommendations. They should be taken seriously, but they are not uncontroversial, and will require further debate.
Nonetheless, what Zondo is doing, in addition to providing the evidential bedrock so that those responsible can be held criminally to account for their abuse of power, is setting out how the governance system needs to be strengthened. By the time part three is published at the end of February, a substantial reform agenda will have been laid out.
Even with two Acts of this play to go, it is reasonable to conclude that Zondo has played his part. Now it will up to the government to deliver, and for the public, civil society and the media to ensure that it does.
But there will be many more twists in the plot. There will be lawfare, attempts to subvert the criminal justice system, which is still recovering from state capture. The power struggle within the governing African National Congress in the run-up to its five-yearly national elective conference at the end of this year will be even more bloody as a result.
If the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu was the moral compass of the nation, then Zondo is constructing an ethical map. How South Africa navigates its course in the coming years will define its long-term future.
Richard Calland, Associate Professor in Public Law, University of Cape Town The African Report
A court in Kigali will begin hearing the case of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Paul Rusesabagina on Monday after prosecutors appealed against his 25-year prison sentence, saying it was “lenient”.
The prosecution appealed against a September 20, 2021 that found Rusesabagina guilty of eight charges following a seven-month long trial.
Rusesabagina faced nine charges, including terrorism, murder, arson, abduction and forming an armed rebel group.
The crimes are linked to activities of the coalition of an exiled opposition group Rusesabagina formed dubbed MRCD and its armed outfit FLN, which is linked to the deadly 2018 and 2019 attacks in southern and western Rwanda.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for the 67-year-old Rwandan native who also holds Belgium citizenship and US permanent residence.
His family and supporters rejected the case as politically motivated, and did not appeal the verdict.
Rusesabagina and his legal counsel boycotted the trial after he indicated he expected no justice from the court.
He protested the court’s refusal to allow him six months to prepare his defence and be represented by his Belgian lawyer.
Rusesabagina, a former hotelier-turned-political activist, rose to fame after a 2004 Hollywood movie, Hotel Rwanda, that depicted his heroic acts in saving Tutsis during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Callixte Nsabimana, aka, Sankara, one of his 20 co-accused who is former spokesperson and commander of the FLN rebels, was handed 20 years in prison, alongside seven other convicts.
They were found guilty of crimes, including being members of a terror group, committing terror acts, mobilisation and illegal use of explosives.
Other convicts were handed three to 10-year jail terms. By Johnson Kanamugire, The East African
Prizewinning Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has written about independent Kenya's first Attorney General Charles Njonjo, following Njonjo's passing on January 2.
In a piece published by Nation, Ngũgĩ recounted details he can recall from Njonjo's time as AG, including an order that saw the author detained at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.
The Weep Not, Child author recalled Mr Njonjo making a mockery of his [Ngũgĩ] decision to drop his English given name during a parliamentary session. The author added that the late Njonjo mocked everyone who chose to use only their native names.
"I am not personally bitter against him. I have always thought he exemplified a larger problem in the European language speaking African elite, their normalisation of the abnormality of the colonial mindset, which assumes Europe is the beginning of our being," wrote Ngũgĩ, an advocate of cultural pride.
He went on to narrate the story of Maurice Tito Gacamba, a Kenyan inventor whose scrap-metal plane flew for a few minutes and crashed in 1969.
The River Between author faulted Njonjo for killing Gacamba's dream when the then AG barred Gacamba from flying planes, requiring the self-taught inventor to acquire an aviation license first.
"I am less interested in the fact that Njonjo stopped Gacamba from flying than in the symbolism of the two men, in their attitudes toward their native land," Ngũgĩ stated before elaborating on the differences.
The author pointed out that the Duke of Kabeteshire had gone as far as cultivating an English accent, beside having pursued education in South Africa and London which qualified him as a UK barrister.
Labelling it as 'Njonjoism', Ngũgĩ has charged Kenyans to rethink the mtumba (imported second-hand clothes) industry, whose worth exceeds that of 'Made in Kenya' apparel.
"Njonjo and his English accent were not an accident, nor were his acts those of a lone wolf. Is the Njonjo mentality any different than that of Kenyans who now run schools which promote British National Curriculum? Or those Kenyans who licensed Mitumba industry of used clothes from Europe? We exchanged 'the made in Kenya' spirit for used in Europe.
"The only way of fighting Njonjoism is to reject the ruling Mitumba culture and reconnect ourselves to the we-can-do-it spirit of Gacamba and Kenyan people," the author charged. By Miriam Mwende, Pulse
Fear has gripped residents of Githuguya village in Ndia Constituency, Kirinyaga county following a sudden spate of pythons.
According to the residents, the invasive snakes are mostly slithering their way into their farms and compounds in search of food thus paralyzing their daily duties.
They say, as a result, most of them are unable to carry out their farming activities since they fear the deadly serpents can attack them unawares.
Wilson Wambugu, a resident, says for some time now he has encountered the snakes while going about his businesses.
“They have now become a menace as they have increased in numbers. It is such a scary experience,” Wilson said.
Lucy Ndegwa another resident narrates that she now no longer accesses her farm for fear of bumping into a python.
According to her, the few mango trees in her farm have become safe haven for one of the pythons ever since her neighbour cleared her bushy farm.
Ndegwa says they fear for their children who most times have to walk to schools unaccompanied.
“It’s horrifying to even think that during this mango season, children can climb up the trees in search of fruits and are unaware of the imminent danger. Not so long ago, one of my neighbours found a python in her compound and had to run for safety,”
Another neighbour Ann Wangare echoed her sentiment saying they fear that their livestock will start dwindling in the wake of the menace at hand. She says she fears releasing her two calves to graze for they can be attacked anytime.
The residents are now calling on the government to be swift in action before the deadly serpents can cause havoc. In addition, they want the government to establish a KWS office as many human-wildlife conflict-related cases have been reported from across the county.
“It becomes difficult to rely on the KWS office in Embu as they take time to respond to our concerns. We would like to appeal to the government to establish an office in Kirinyaga county so that our worries can be solved without much delay,” another local said.
Their cries come weeks after residents from Ngando village in Ndia decried the rise of hippos.
According to them, the animals have attacked four people including a 68-year-old widow. By Richard Mugo, K24
More than a dozen lockdown-breaking parties are now alleged to have taken place across Whitehall, including several within Downing Street that were attended by the prime minister, yet the only one currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police is the one held by Black politician Shaun Bailey.
The former London mayoral candidate, 50, was forced to quit his role as chair of the assembly’s economy committee this week, after it emerged that he had attended a party thrown by his campaign staff at Conservative Party headquarters in London during lockdown in December 2020.
He’d already – rightly – stepped down from his role as chair of the assembly’s police and crime committee last month, when news of the bash first broke, and he had also apologised “unreservedly”.
Among the latest rule-breaking revelations to have hit the government are those concerning two gatherings that reportedly took place at Downing Street on 16 April – the day before the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral last year – prompting an apology from No 10 to Buckingham Palace.
Despite this, a Met Police spokesperson has maintained that officers won’t look into allegations of these get-togethers – or any of the others – because it doesn’t investigate alleged breaches of Covid rules that took place a “long” time ago; however, it will speak to two people who attended Bailey’s party celebrating his mayoral bid, which was even longer ago.
When approached by The Independent about concerns over the Met’s apparently inconsistent approach to the allegations, a force spokesperson said they were “aware of a gathering” at an address in Matthew Parker Street, SW1 (where Tory HQ is based) on 14 December 2020.
“Officers will be making contact with two people who attended in relation to alleged breaches of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) Regulations,” the spokesperson said – adding that, in line with the Met’s policy, officers “do not normally investigate” breaches of coronavirus regulations when they are reported long after they are said to have taken place, but that “if significant evidence suggesting a breach of the regulations becomes available, officers may review and consider it”.
Be that as it may, in my opinion the issue is bigger than Bailey – who is a staunch critic of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The point is that the Met cannot afford to erode the confidence of Black people – more than it already has – at a time when trust in policing is extremely low.
The Met has handed out no fewer than 17,000 fines to Londoners for breaking lockdown rules, in a manner that disproportionately penalised Black and Asian people, who were almost twice as likely to be handed fines or arrested for breaches of the lockdown rules than white people.
Black Lives Matter protests swept the UK following George Floyd’s murder in the US on 25 May 2020. Around this time, the Met faced relentless criticism in relation to a string of racial profiling accusations following a series of incidents filmed and shared online. These included vehicle stops involving Team GB athlete Bianca Williams and her Portuguese sprinter boyfriend, Ricardo Dos Santos, and Labour MP Dawn Butler.
Last year, the Home Affairs Committee called for “urgent action” to address “persistent, deep-rooted and unjustified racial disparities” in policing, arguing that the current system for delivering on race equality is “not working”.
It also emerged that the force is more likely to publish a person’s mugshot if they’re Black.
Following this, Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick admitted that her force was “not free of discrimination, racism or bias”. She stopped short of saying it was still institutionally racist, two decades after the Macpherson report labelled it as such.
Warning in March that a race crisis was tarnishing the effectiveness of policing, National Police Chiefs Council chair Martin Hewitt said trust and confidence in policing was 20 per cent lower in the Black population compared with the average.
So yes, Shaun Bailey has apologised for attending the party – and has paid handsomely for doing so, as the only minority ethnic person embroiled in this debacle. After all, aside from Allegra Stratton who resigned from her role over this rule-breaking scandal, he’s the only other implicated individual to have lost work. What does that suggest?
Prime minister – still in post, Boris Johnson’s principal private secretary Martin Reynolds – still in post, education secretary Gavin Williamson – still in post, transport secretary Grant Shapps – still in post, cabinet secretary Simon Case – still in post. Shall I go on?
Commentators have pointed to the inevitability of such an outcome, one which denotes that Black people are held to a different standard than our white counterparts. If you want proof of this, then you only have to look – plenty of statistics are available. Some argue that Bailey should have seen this coming.
“Nahhhhhh Shaun Bailey is a fool. He really thought he could participate in these parties and be immune…..did he forget he’s a black man or?,” one person posted on Twitter.
Another observed: “The Met Police will be investigating the one party involving a black man. As much as I dislike Shaun Bailey, even he must realise he’s being stitched up!!!”
Don’t get me wrong: this is not a defence of Bailey, or his actions – by any stretch of the imagination. My name is not Allegra, and I am no spokesperson. I am appalled that all of these public office holders were party to such flagrant disregard for the regulations that were foisted upon the rest of us.
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Nor is this piece a definitive conclusion of what may or may not be the motivating factors behind its probe into Bailey’s party. I’m not a Met Police officer, either.
But it’s important to consider what we do know, to be objective here and “split justice”, as the phrase goes.
What’s good for the goose has to be good for the gander – and the disparity in the Met’s handling of Partygate doesn’t inspire much confidence in the notion that it doesn’t have a problem with race. Nadine White, The Independent/Yahoo News
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