Minister details government action on Zondo Commission recommendations

More than R3 billion in recoveries, at least 37 high-profile cases underway, with a further 20 cases still under investigation.

This is the hard evidence Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has presented in a counter to claims that government is dragging its feet in the implementation of the State Capture Commission recommendations.

The Minister was delivering an address during the University of Johannesburg’s Combatting Corruption Summit held on Friday.

“A perception has been created that our government

is reluctant to implement the recommendations. Let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. We are implementing,” she said.

The Minister cited the example of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which she said is working to bring perpetrators to book both in court and through paying back the money.

“The NPA… has made important progress in responding to State Capture corruption matters, both in terms of the number of high-profile cases enrolled and by removing the profit from crime through the work of the NPA Asset Forfeiture Unit [AFU].

“Since the submission of the report to the President, IDAC [Investigating Directorate Against Corruption], under NPA, has been dealing with 120 recommendations by the State Capture Commission, which are dealt with under 37 cases,” Kubayi said.

The 120 recommendations are being dealt with as follows:

• Some 82 recommendations, comprising 20 cases, are still under investigation.
• A further 23 recommendations, comprising nine cases, are before court, with suspects having been charged.
• Four recommendations, comprising two cases, have been finalised.
• Some 11 recommendations, comprising five cases, are under consideration for authorisation.
• IDAC decided not to prosecute one case under one recommendation.

“[IDAC] is also dealing with State Capture related matters where there were no specific recommendations. They took the report from the Chief Justice and looked at… the 120 recommendations. They then realised that there are others that can be derived as cases where there were no recommendations.

“Those are 57 cases out of those. Twenty-eight cases are before court, 23 are under investigation and six are under authorisation. In terms of the [AFU]… it has been able to recover R3.9 billion of stolen money in terms of assets,” she said.

“Many perpetrators must still be held accountable”

Beyond bringing wrongdoers to account, government has also implemented recommendations that strengthen the hand of law enforcement, with the establishment of IDAC as an institution and the establishment of the Special Tribunal. 

“Admittedly – while I’m reflecting on some of this progress – there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to deal with the wrongs that have been committed. There are many perpetrators of corruption who still need to be held accountable. 

“It is for this reason that government will be increasing its efforts to strengthen the institutions that are fighting against corruption.

“A review of the Protected Disclosure Act… is underway, with a view to incentivising whistleblowing. The department will provide the required resources to the NPA to ensure that the full operationalisation of IDAC is in place and support its mandate. We are also bringing in expertise through Section 38 appointments... that are assisting us in various skills,” she said.

The Minister called on all of society to work with government to combat not only corruption but crime in general.

“All of us have a role to play not only as leaders or people who are in the JCPS cluster or security cluster because it is our neighbours, children and brothers who are committing these crimes. Sometimes they are hidden in our households and protected from facing the might of justice.

“We have to say: it stops and ends here. Let us join hands and work together to prevent and combat crime and corruption in our country,” Kubayi concluded. – SAnews.gov.za