President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday said “state capture did not end on its own accord but was brought to an end by the concerted actions of South Africans from all walks of life.”
“These citizens worked in various areas to restore the values of the country’s constitutional democracy,” Ramaphosa said in his weekly message to the nation.
He added: “Over the past three years, we have taken several important steps to tackle corruption and state capture. It is up to all of us to ensure that these practices are never allowed to happen again.”
He said the country had decided to rebuild and strengthen the structure that would guard the South Africa’s bodies to make sure nothing like state capture in the former president Jacob Zuma’s regime happened again.
“We have been painstakingly rebuilding bodies like the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African Revenue Service (SARS), and others,” Ramaphosa said.
The South African authorities have also set up new structures such as the “Investigating Directorate in the NPA to prosecute high-level corruption and the State Intelligence Unit Special Tribunal to recover stolen public funds.”
“We have improved our crime-fighting capacity through the establishment of the Fusion Centre, which brings together various law enforcement agencies to share information and coordinate the investigation and prosecution of crime,” the president said.
He said government had changed leadership at several strategic state-owned enterprises (SEO) and had begun the process of restoring these SEOs to financial and operational health.
The government was working towards a new SOE model that promoted greater transparency, accountability and sustainability, he said.
“Much of this work is ongoing. There are areas where progress has been far slower than we would have hoped — and these are now receiving closer attention,” he said.
“In a first for the country, we also published online the details of all Covid procurement contracts across all public entities.”
He noted that the damage to the country’s economy by high-level corruption “is deep”.
“Its effects will be felt for many years to come. But, working together, we have started to put things right. We have started to rebuild and restore them,” Ramaphosa said.
He added: “We can expect that the outcomes of the (Deputy Chief Justice Raymond) Zondo Commission (of Inquiry into State Capture) will immeasurably strengthen these efforts. They will give us an opportunity to make a decisive and lasting break with the state capture era,” Ramaphosa said.
NM/jn/APA