Ultimately, at the bottom of the deceit is the electoral system which allows party leaders to hand-pick who is appointed as MPs, MPLs and councillors, wrires William Gumede.
In South Africa, the pattern of grand corruption is increasingly sophisticated, with legitimate institutions, laws, policies and rules being used as a cover for self-enrichment. Corruption is increasingly done through what appears on the face of it to be normal, standard and credible processes. It’s particularly prevalent in countries in transition, as from apartheid in South Africa’s case.
In such countries, the rules of the game are changing and the rule of law has not been universally embraced.
Often countries in transition are in the process of implementing economic reforms which produce “market distortions”, whether laws focused on redistribution to favour one group, such as black economic empowerment; or state-owned companies are privatised cheaply but to well-connected politicians and business leaders.
Or in many cases, the processes in which the state buys products and services from companies are manipulated to give contracts preferentially to select businessmen and women, politicians and companies from the previous disadvantaged communities. Or the state could provide favoured companies, businessmen and women exclusively with business funding or protect their trading or mining licences. In transitional societies, political, economic and cultural power is often concentrated in the hands of a few, making the capture of democratic institutions, SOEs, policies and laws more possible.
How does this happen in South Africa? Democratic institutions, SOEs, laws, policies and rules are captured in such a way that it appears to happen by the normal rules. Firstly, appointments to key democratic institutions, public offices and SOEs are packed with carefully chosen individuals who are in on the deceit, or will look the other way or be too incompetent to even know when it is happening. This is often done under the guise of so-called “deployment”.
Appointments in such cases do follow the rules. Nominations are called for or vacancies are advertised for public positions. The interview panels set up are also legitimate and credible. In many cases, the interview panels are chaired by individuals who are on-message - they know who should be shortlisted and who should be finally appointed.
Often the competent and honest applicants, who are not in on the deceit, will not even make the shortlist. The CV of a good candidate is set aside early on, doesn’t arrive on time or some seemingly legitimate reason is found for them not to be shortlisted. That is why it so important for civil society groups, independent watchdogs, the media and concerned citizens to check who applied for key public jobs, but never made it to the shortlist, and to ask why they did not.
Similarly, procurement or tender processes of SOEs and public agencies are often also circumvented through standard, normal and legitimate rules. Specifications for services, including the price the entity is prepared to pay, are in some cases provided to preferred bidders.
Bidders for the government contracts not in on the arrangement bid honestly and even make it to the shortlist, but will ultimately fail because they do not have the right price. The emphasis in the public sector is on the cheapest price, providing a very big loophole for collusion.
Ultimately, at the bottom of the deceit is the electoral system which allows party leaders to hand-pick who is appointed as MPs, members of provincial legislatures and councillors. Pliant, incompetent or captured appointees ultimately preside over the panels that approve appointments to crucial public offices, contracts and policies.
Of course, the recent phenomenon in the ANC is for the national elective conference to elect leaders according to slates, whereby candidates for the national executive committee and other leadership structures are elected on the basis of their alignment with one or the other ANC presidential candidate. Those aligned to the slate of the winning presidential candidate then get appointed to all leadership structures across the party, legislatures and government.
They are therefore immediately captured by the winning presidential candidate - and make subsequent decisions in the interest of their slate leader and faction. It is crucial that the ANC brings merit and transparency to party presidential and all other internal party elections and appointments, adopt evidence-based policies and decisions to stop corruption at the source.
* Gumede is associate professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and chairperson of the Democracy Works Foundation. He is author of the best-selling Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
The Sunday Independent