The reckoning has arrived - and why Ace Magashule should be very concerned
The past couple of days have been truly and genuinely uplifting. To see the Hawks arresting some of the grifters who are believed to have fleeced the state out of millions of taxpayer rands, followed by a court appearance of a former ANC MP at the direction of the National Prosecuting Authority, gave me enormous satisfaction.
We have all become professional cynics, often refusing to believe good news and side-eyeing positive developments with a negativity caused by years of disappointment and heartbreak. But this week's arrests truly do represent a significant development in the battle against capture and corruption. It might not be the big fish - yet - but nabbing mid-level looters sets up law enforcement agencies to turn the screws on the kingpins, and that's why we should all have a little springier step today.
One person who has already started to plot his defence - legal and populist - is the ANC's Ace Magashule. The governing party's secretary-general has been fingered as being the don of the Free State; as having been a central figure in a network of patronage which benefited himself, the Guptas and various brown-nosing loyalists. The sooner the NPA charges him, the better for the country and our collective well-being.
In this week's Friday Briefing, News24's investigative reporter Kyle Cowan sets out the case against Magashule in chapter and verse. Also Accountability Now's Paul Hoffman tells us why the blame for state capture shouldn't be laid at the Guptas' door, but rather at the ANC's elective conference in Polokwane in 2007; while Corruption Watch's Valencia Talane breaks down what has happened since the watchdog and the Institute for Security Studies made its submission containing 12 proposals concerning the country's justice system to the Zondo commission in June last year.
Have a good October!
Pieter du Toit
Assistant Editor
The case against Ace Magashule in the R280m Gupta Estina dairy farm scandal
Seven arrests linked to a Free State asbestos audit tender scandal have renewed questions over the lack of criminal enforcement action against former Free State premier Ace Magashule, writes Kyle Cowan.
While the Guptas are blamed for state capture, the finger should really be pointing at the ANC's 2007 elective conference in Polokwane, writes Paul Hoffman.
Fighting corruption: A transparent and accountable law enforcement system is needed
If the government implements just one particular recommendation, of the 12 made jointly by Corruption Watch and the Institute for Security Studies to the Zondo commission into state capture, South Africa will see a more accountable and transparent law enforcement system, writes Valencia Talane.
