CORRUPTION TOOL OF APARTHEID APOLOGISTS? The suggestion is that the new dispensation is both more corrupt and lazier in applying the rules of accountability. opensecrets.org.za/8-crony-capitalist-case-studies/ This shouldn’t be reduced to an argument about which system of governance is more corrupt – that allows the apartheid apologists to draw a laager that silences all debate. When people sit back and stew in anger they are unwittingly providing support for the people who made mega-profits from apartheid. Rather, we need a serious conversation, involving all South Africans, about the long tail of corruption in South Africa. We need this because we are in a messy middle ground in which the democratic government has been unwilling or unable to investigate the economic crimes of the old order – some of which may far outstrip the scale of corruption alleged in the multibillion-dollar post-apartheid arms deal. Most countries that undergo transition from a secretive autocratic state to an open democracy grapple with this. We’ve seen it from Kenya to Indonesia and Egypt, where corruption charges against Hosni Mubarak are likely to be dropped this week. Wherever there have been attempts to include economic crimes as part of the transitional justice process – they have simply failed. Where corruption has been excluded from the transitional justice agenda, either by design or oversight – such as with South Africa’s TRC – the problem festers. Those networks stay in business, and rather than face justice they invite members of the new elite to the table. Arguably, this is where South Africa finds itself today. This is the lesson for a free South Africa. It should no longer have to be the poor man’s burden to carry. _ | The Good Old Days? 8 ‘Crony Capitalist’ Case Studies opensecrets.org.za In another post, we’ve responded to recent claims that public accountability has eroded in the post-apartheid period. Whatever the current problems facing South Africa, we argue that there are no ‘better days’ to hark back to. Here are eight corruption scandals under the apartheid system that remain...
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 23:14:41 +0000
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