When the Presidency next appears before SCOPA the DA will ensure that the Presidency provides a clear, detailed and swift timeline for the conclusion of the latest Special Investigating Unit (SIU) Monitoring Mechanism design and implementation.
The SIU was established in 1996 and now some 26 years later President Ramaphosa, in a report to SCOPA, admits that he has failed to ensure that the SIU referrals of remedial action are fully implemented. It is no wonder that so many corrupt officials and ANC cadres have for so long escaped any consequences.
President Ramaphosa himself has taken 10 years to identify the failure of the Presidency, of which he has been a member since 2012, to ensure that the good work done by the SIU is not wasted. Yet another task that President Ramaphosa has failed to perform.
The SIU only acts on the basis of presidential proclamations and all reports of the SIU are submitted directly to the President. It is the responsibility of the President to ensure that the referrals of the SIU are coordinated and implemented. For the 26 years since the SIU was established this vital function of the President has simply not been done.
The only conclusion that can be reached is that there was, on the part of Jacob Zuma and President Ramaphosa in particular, no will to act in order to ensure that corrupt officials and ANC cadres were robustly prosecuted and put in jail for long periods of incarceration.
After 26 years since the SIU was established, President Ramaphosa has yet another “project team” and “plan” that will grind along at snail’s pace and more corrupt officials and ANC cadres will get away with the rape of the State and the people of South Africa.
The real issue that results in corrupt officials and ANC cadres not facing any consequences and indeed feeling free to continue with their malfeasance is the deliberate under resourcing of the Justice system and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in particular. It is unconscionable that the ANC can waste R14,0billion on their SAA vanity project and at the same time cut the NPA budget by R422 million to a mere R4,5 billion in 2021/22. It is this deliberate underfunding of the Justice system that is at the heart of the failure to implement referrals of the SIU and for fraud and corruption to be dealt with swiftly and aggressively.