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South Africa’s hopes rest heavily on the Zondo Commission putting a spoke in the wheel of corruption

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Professor Dr Omphemetse S Sibanda is a Professor of Law and the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Management and Law at the University of Limpopo. He holds a Doctor of Laws (in International Economic Law) from North West University, a Master of Laws from Georgetown University Law Centre, US; and an LLB (Hon) and B Juris from the then Vista University, Soweto Campus.

As a democracy, we should always remember that corruption is synonymous with bad governance. Without genuine interest and confidence at the highest political levels, the Zondo Commission may turn out not to be worth the money spent on it.

Have you ever wondered if the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, also known as the Zondo Commission of Inquiry, or Zondo Commission, will strike a decisive blow in the fight against corruption? Will it bring real and lasting change? 

Here’s another question you might be asking yourself. Will the ANC-led government have the political will and moral decency to implement the commission’s recommendations?

In order to answer the above questions, it is worth conducting a brief, comparative exercise with Australia’s 1987 Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct – colloquially known as the Fitzgerald Commission because it was chaired by Tony Fitzgerald QC.  

In an essay titled: “Enduring change: Detoxifying Queensland’s political system” by Paul D Williams, published in Griffith Review, Williams reflects on the success of the far-reaching 402-page report of the Fitzgerald Commission. Speaking about the effectiveness of the commission, Williams said:

“Some disappear with nary a trace, while others go on to effect real and lasting change. Why some inquiries succeed and others fail largely depends on the political context and public mood at an inquiry’s calling, the breadth of that inquiry’s terms of reference, the comprehensiveness of its recommendations, and the political will of governments to act on those recommendations.”

According to Williams, the Fitzgerald Report has “brought lasting, monumental change to Queensland public life”. Williams continues to state that “[n]ot only did a ramshackle 32-year-old government collapse, but so too did those elements of a political culture that cultivated systemic corruption”.

What was apparently key to Fitzgerald’s report is the comprehensiveness of the inquiry and the evidence it revealed. As previously opined, the Fitzgerald Commission’s outcomes also saw some high-profile individuals prosecuted and convicted. The important feature of the Fitzgerald Commission was the many recommendations it made, and the fact that the commission’s report acted as an agent of anti-corruption change.

Back to the question whether the commission can bring about real and lasting change: I am sceptical, given the nature of evidence and manner of giving testimony at the Zondo Commission by some witnesses. Unlike the Fitzgerald Commission, the Zondo Commission frequently hits the wall when it comes to obtaining evidence and reliable testimony from witnesses.

A recent article in Daily Maverick points out, for example, the testimony of Vuyo Ndezeku as “among the most bizarre delivered at the commission”. To quote this article verbatim, “a lot of people commented that the witness’ contradictions, confusion and straightforward bullshitting warranted him being sent straight to jail – and therein lies a big hint about the history of Vuyo Sipho Aaron Ndzeku”.

Vuyo Sipho Ndzeku’s Zondo testimony is among the most bizarre delivered at the commission

Ndzeku, a former director at JM Aviation and current director at Swissport South Africa, could not even remember when he got married. 

But why are we alarmed by the behaviour of those who give testimony? Since its first sitting, the Zondo Commission has experienced challenges, including attempts to thwart any efforts of discovery; witness depositions laden with political ambiguities aimed at suppressing the legitimacy of the inquiry; and evasive and hostile witnesses who are prepared to “dribble” with non-answers like: “I don’t know… I can’t answer that… I’ve never heard of that before… I can’t remember… I’m not sure about the dates… I would not have known about it… this is the first time I’ve seen this report”, and so on, ad nauseam.

Among the more bizarre, waffling testimonies that come to mind is that of Nontsasa Memela, the former head of the procurement department at South African Airways Technical. In my view, Memela treated the commission with contempt, providing replies that were generally seen as evasive and condescending. To rub salt into the commission’s wound, she was rewarded with applause and a standing ovation from her legal representative, advocate Lindelwa Mbanjwa. 

“Your performance today was superb,” Mbanjwa reportedly said to Memela in Xhosa.

If you consider the contemptuous manner in which high-profile witnesses and politicians behave at the commission, and the readiness of others to defy instructions to appear before it, one cannot help but conclude that the notion of the commission bringing lasting change is shaky at best. 

“It seems that far from being a balm to soothe our tortured and abused collective soul as a nation, the Zondo Commission is fast turning into an opportunity for some of our so-called leaders to role model the very real personal benefits of patronage, spurring on a frenzied feeding at the taxpayer-funded trough for the next generation,” observed one media report on the hackneyed testimony of former water affairs minister Nomvula Mokonyane.

I confess that I have previously been defensive and optimistic about the work of the Zondo Commission – and I still remain optimistic. Optimism should not, however, camouflage the delusions that exist in the country. 

My preliminary prediction is that the outcome of the Zondo Commission will redefine and change the South African justice system in terms of the unimaginable. One hopes that this will not include selective amnesia and political arrogance as new defences for corruption and criminal charges arise.

As a democracy, we should always remember that corruption is synonymous with bad governance. Without genuine interest and confidence at the highest political levels, the Zondo Commission may turn out not to be worth the money spent on it.

Perhaps its saving grace will be that Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Mnyamezeli Zondo will not be deterred – will not want to be known as someone who either ignored the evidence or was unable to nail the corrupt.

Of course, we have been let down by commissions in the past. Most prominent among them, the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of Fraud, Corruption, Impropriety or Irregularity in the Strategic Defence Procurement Packages, led by Judge Willie Seriti.

In 2019, the Seriti Commission was found to have failed the country by ignoring evidence of corruption. We can only hope the Zondo Commission is made of sterner stuff. DM

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Comments - Please in order to comment.

  • Dennis Bailey says:

    Gosh, this is so woolly I don’t know what you are saying. Chasing the tail of your own previous optimism or looking to blame Sereti et al for all that’s wrong with our legal system. You’ve gone from viva Zondo to we’re-up-the-creek-without-a-paddle, all in 1000 too many words. Even worse is I had to read it to know that!!

  • Rory Short says:

    There must be a political will for the Zondo Commission to be effective. There is not the political will, it would be naive to expect such from a thoroughly corrupt government.

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