THERE’S NO POLITICAL WILL TO FIGHT GRAFT

In the transitory space between the dissolution of the old and formation of the new government, corruption – the word and not the act – appears to have been a preoccupation of just about every compatriot yet methinks a majority of the people are either afflicted by or direct beneficiaries of this cancerous scourge.

Either for a lack of innovation and creativity, corruption became the sound bite of choice possibly because the nation was going to the Hastings in preparation for the formation of a new administration.

Thus individuals with political ambitions were eager to position themselves strategically so that they either were elected or appointed to the much sought after vacant political positions, including in the Legislature, Cabinet and Emabandla. Even at the recent People’s Parliament, corruption was identified as a challenge that needed to be dealt with.

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But why the choice of corruption as a useful battle cry in achieving one’s political ambitions when the country was faced with a multitude of problems in varying degrees; government’s cash-flow crisis, constricting economy, drought of foreign direct investments (FDIs), grinding poverty, unemployment, etc?

Why, there was even protestations that the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) was either dormant or not doing enough to curb the scourge. And in the midst of it all, it emerged that some of the newly-elected lawmakers had either accepted or had been soliciting bribes from those eager to make it to the lean list of 10 senators elected by the House of Assembly.

As I see it, the choice of using corruption to motor one’s political ambitions could well be the realisation and acceptance of the existence and endemic nature of the scourge and the danger it posed to the national developmental imperatives.

This may suggest that more and more compatriots had a basic understanding of the attributes of and what constitutes corruption and even its detrimental impact on development initiatives. On the flip side of the above, the use of the corruption sound bite could be a psychological ploy to impress the audience in order to get ahead of competitors.

But when all is said and done, the truth is that corruption is a grim reality threatening this country and future generations. Another sobering reality, at least to those with a disposition of speaking the truth to power, is that corruption is deeply rooted in the very psyche of emaSwati.

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At a macro scale, this manifested itself in the erosion of moral values as depicted in what happened in Parliament in the scandalous corrupt, even fraudulent, trading of Senate seats that to some apparently dissolute MPs was acceptable and normal practice. Acceptable and normal because that is how they themselves got to be elected at their various Tinkhundla.

This means the electorate also extorted and received money from those running for Parliament in exchange for their votes. The sum total of this, from the grassroots when the electorate traded their votes for money or material benefits and up to when the financially abled elected lawmakers extorted money in exchange for their votes from those running for the 10 Senate seats, is grand corruption.

It does not end there; the MPs who extorted and received money from more than one Senate contestant further committed the crime of fraud because they could only vote once. Regrettably, Parliament is a mirror of the very society it serves.
In the end it is left to the ACC, which is hardly empowered to deliver on its mandate, a reality newly-appointed Commissioner Daniel Dlamini has to come to terms with.

The task of the ACC is not made any easier by the protagonist position that has been adopted by the court as manifested by a judgment of Chief Justice Stanley Maphalala in the matter involving Gideon Dlamini. In that judgment CJ Maphalala contradicted his earlier judgments on similar matters. The effect of this was to take the ACC out of business.

Exacerbating matters is the soured relations between the courts and the media, which plays a catalytic role in the fight against corruption. In recent times the courts have been trying too hard to also shut down the media with unjustifiable awards to litigants that are disproportionate to the economic realities in this country.

In fact some of the awards were double if not more than those awarded by South African courts in similar matters. Given the slow pace of enacting the much needed legislation to protect whistleblowers, the media has been leading the charge against corruption with exposes.
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Given the prevailing circumstances it seems much is expected from the ACC that has basically been emasculated by the courts. And given the scenario of a rotten body, we can only wait to pick up the bones, which corruption is doing to this nation.
Who will be first to point an accusing finger between the courts and the Legislature? Both institutions need to cleanse themselves first before they can lay blame on the door of the ACC. But is there political appetite to fight the scourge of corruption in the first place?
We have to wait and see what happens to the ACC investigations into the conduct of MPs during the elections of the 10 senators. And will the courts come to the party or go to extraordinary lengths to make the ACC redundant? 

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