It’s official: Raymond Mnyamezeli Mlungisi Zondo is a DA politician masquerading as a Judge

By Hadebe Hadebe

Corruption is not a neutral concept; it does not matter how one wishes to look at it. But it is heavily influenced by jostling for political power and positions. Depending on which side of the political equation (faction) you fall, you are likely to be accused of corruption...

If you are on a winning or leading side, you are likely to be forgiven. It is for that reason that some people are persona non grata in the public eye even without compelling evidence tested before courts.

On 6 October 2020, reports emerged that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had issued a warrant of arrest for the Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) Ace Magashule.

The Independent Media’s Sifisumusa G. Mahlangu purported that the reason for the arrest was for supposed role that Magashule played in the controversial Vrede Dairy Farm project. Although Magashule was said to be aware of the arrest, the Hawks denied the allegations.

This article asserts that the recent developments, nonetheless, suggest that fire does not need raging flames to burn down the entire village. Intense political games are at play and the recent high profile arrests have nothing to do with corruption as such, but ANC internal battles. Something big is happening behind the scenes but the Hawks were taken by surprise that the information was made public before they pounced.

Political analyst Clyde Khoi-Khoi Ramalaine maintains, “The arrest of Magashule is therefore, imminent…” With the public onslaught on Magashule, it looks like South Africa has not learned from its past blunders, and those of others abroad. Magashule’s trial in public streets represents political tussles rather than reason.

Time and time again, many other people are found to be also on the wrong side of the law, but the media “clears” them. Only the disliked are subjected to the vicious court of public opinion, and humiliation. The argument here is that nobody is above the law. Therefore, the suggestion is that for the law to be seen to be fair and just, it must be applied uniformly and without prejudice.

Based on the premise that someone is innocent until proven guilty, the application of the law must be seen to be consistent, just and upholding the Bill of Rights. That is not to say, Magashule or anyone else is above the law but his rights deserve to be respected at all times.

It is quite simple. Everyone who is deemed to have broken the law, irrespective of ‘political palatability’, should be brought to book. However, what is happening at the moment supports the idea that institutions of state are used as a weapon to fight political battles.

This perception will inadvertently work in favour of Magashule who is increasingly getting support and sympathy from people who rightfully see him as another Jacob Zuma. As the ANC’s National General Council (NGC) draws closer, a repeat of ‘get Zuma by any means necessary’ in 2005 is most likely. The upcoming NGC promises to be much fiercer than the event that restored Zuma to party activities.

Lessons from Brazil and Israel

Lessons from Brazil’s Operation Car Wash (Portuguese: Operação Lava Jato) is perhaps the best example to illustrate how politics uses corruption claims to deal with opponents. Initially headed by investigative judge Sérgio Moro, until 2019, the investigation targeted hundreds of politicians in Brazil including former President Ignacio Lula and his successor Dilma Rousseff.

In fact, the operation raptured the strong leftist Worker’s Party (PT) by denying Lula to run for the highest office; and installed a more conservative government under Jair Bolsonaro. In turn, Bolsonaro announced Sérgio Moro as the minister of justice as a token of appreciation for his role in outmuscling Lula out of the presidential race.

Workers Party’s Gleisi Hoffman referred to the appointment as “the fraud of the century”. She continued to state that Moro was rewarded with a ministerial post for ensuring that “Lula was unfairly convicted and prevented from participating in the elections.” Lula was later released from prison, but he was prevented from running for President in 2018. In short, Lula’s opponents used corruption to eliminate him as a political rival.

The long-serving Israeli prime  minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure to resign on corruption accusations. He has not heeded the call to leave office in what his supporters see as politically motivated maneuvers against Bibi. Taking both the Brazilian and Israeli cases as well as using Ira Sharkansky’s formulation, what complicates the analysis of corruption is its “fuzziness” as a concept. As such, corruption “means different things to different communities and individuals,” adds Sharkansky.

Besides the Brazil and Israel examples, corruption has a long history of being used as a potent tool of dealing with political opponents. It looks like South Africa is sending a strong statement of intent, it desperately wants to join the major league of corruption football.

Unfortunately, the rules of this political game are dangerous and extremely delicate. Corruption claims can easily backfire if they are not carefully handled.

Fuzzy corruption

Due to its fuzzy nature, corruption is therefore easy to manipulate to attain political mileage. The manner in which political opponents are dealt with is not only concerning but trivializes the seriousness of graft and malfeasance in society.

One big mistake is that people are first tried in the courts of public opinion using the media and other platforms. The goal is to discredit them in the eyes of the public. Mob justice reached unprecedented heights when Zuma was hauled before angry crowds in true style of political violence that we witnessed in the 1980s and 1990s. Courts of public opinion not only torched him alive, but they also clobbered him in full view of the public.

Funny enough, there was deafening silence when the NPA submitted that it not ready to proceed with the prosecution after many years of what was said to be a definite case.

The second mistake was turning an ombudsman in the Office of the Public Protector from a little, insignificant chihuahua into a bulldog with teeth of steel during Thuli Madonsela’s era. The Constitutional Court possibly erred in giving the Public Protector powers that it did not deserve in a step that was seen as a convenient way of substituting courts with a makeshift structure.

However, there is an ongoing struggle to remove the incumbent Busisiwe Mkhwebane after she attempted to flex muscles using the powers granted by the Constitutional Court. It is the same Mkhwebane who exonerated Magashule in the dairy farm affair. Clearly, the Public Protector's findings are selectively binding as Magashule is now being hurled over coals for the same matter he was cleared of.

The third mistake is the ANC’s Integrity Commission (IC). This structure has credence within the organisation, but it tends to overreach when dealing with issues that should be traditionally handled by the justice system. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any party enforcing internal discipline but in the case of the IC, its positioning in relation to members who are deployed in government and other state institutions is quite contestable.

In actual fact, it was the Integrity Commission that paved the way for Magashule’s charge by summoning him to explain a political statement he had made at an event.

The decisions of the Integrity Commission tend to pre-empt what courts should decide on. For example, in the cases of Bandile Masuku (GP) and Zandile Gumede (former eThekwini Mayor) as well as Danny Msiza (Limpopo) were given to the ANC to quickly rule on instead of courts.

Notwithstanding the fact that Msiza is or was not in government, the IC used untested allegations and smearing by Terry Motau regarding wrongdoing in the VBS saga. Also, Daily Maverick’s Pauli Van Wyk wrote, “Compelling evidence suggests that both Msiza and Radzilani played a pivotal part in the VBS Mutual Bank theft.”

Welcome to the old apartheid South Africa reinvented as a democracy where white criminals become State witnesses to escape jail time: Philip Truter, Angelo Agrizzi and Glen Agliotti who were left off the hook  by the NPA in exchange for incriminating Black people. The modus operandi is always the same with the NPA and its  White Monopoly Capitalist masters: "Go and corrupt Black people. When the bomb finally explodes we will save your own hairy arses by turning you into State witnesses because jails were not created to warehouse white people."

 The integrity commission’s indeterminate state

The Integrity Commission is a serious misfit and blunt weapon in the ongoing corruption battles. It is expertly used as a tool to discredit political opponents and is yet to prove itself useful in the ANC’s present state which resembles wrestling’s rumble in the jungle. Its decisions are not legally binding, and courts easily overturns them without any effort.

The role of the Integrity Commission in the political game of corruption has created what may be termed as a “no man's land” for many who are accused of wrongdoing. The likes of Khusela Diko and Bandile Masuku are in a dilemma that could decide their political careers. But that is not the end of the game since there are no criminal charges against them.

Despite what looked like a credible case the IC took out Limpopo's Msiza from the Provincial Executive Committee. Then in August 2020, the Pretoria High Court “cleared treasurer Danny Msiza on some of the allegations in the looting and collapse of the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank.

The court’s decision was like an egg on the ANC’s face as it was forced to reinstate Msiza. Under normal circumstances, Msiza should have dragged the ANC to court for material damages and also demanded an apology.

What is interesting with the Msiza case is that the ANC was found wanting; meaning the IC’s decision was automatically fudged. The ANC has not resolved this entanglement in its processes versus judicial decisions.

But what is even more concerning is that the ANC continues to use the IC to deal with members: Masuku, Diko, Gumede, Andile Lungisa, Magashule, Loyiso Masuku, Bongani Bongo, etc. Based on public commentary, these individuals belong in different camps in the organisation, so this assessment looks into the principles of the IC powers versus courts.

The story of Gumede continues to raise eyebrows in a sense that both public opinion and possibly the ANC’s integrity structures have already pronounced on her based on public outcry regarding the corruption scandal that she was allegedly involved in while eThekwini mayor.

Later the KZN PEC decided to go against its previous decision by making Gumede a member of the provincial government. In a development that sought to mimic a Boswell’s circus entertainment act, the ANC asked her “to step aside until her criminal court case was finalised.”

News24 claims that the Provincial Integrity Commission has summoned Gumede and ten others on charges of corruption.

The powers of the Integrity Commission appear to lack clarity as many other ANC internal matters. One could be tempted to say the IC is reminiscent of the ANC camps in Zambia, Tanzania, and Angola. It has not been properly streamlined with the ANC’s current status as a party leading the government.

Then the question is: “What is the purpose of the IC?” Is it to discredit political opponents or to maintain discipline within the organisation? In the absence of clear answers on this, the IC will continue to play for the public gallery and to be influenced by public opinion.

With Gumede and Magashule; it does not wait for jurisprudence to guide it before making decisions as it did with Msiza. Consequently, the ANC is seen to be conflicted or unsure about how to deal with corruption issues.

Corruption is definitely a political tug of war

Corruption is definitely a political tug of war. Besides the Integrity Commission, the ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa took an unprecedented move when he wrote directly to members to ask them “to account to the party’s Integrity Committee” when accused of, or reported to be involved in corrupt practices... He added that the ANC needs to face the reality that its leaders stand accused of corruption – and that the party itself is “accused number one”.

In the most startling fashion, no ANC leader and or member has voluntarily heeded Ramaphosa's call in what others see as a confirmation the presidential position is largely ceremonial in the ANC.

Mbeki's downfall as both ANC and South Africa’s President was triggered by his attempt to discard his then Deputy Zuma; and this was followed by a huge political storm that ended with his capitulation. An attempt on Magashule using corruption could spell similar repercussions for Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa's letter, according to Limpopo-based Capricorn FM, prompted Zuma to pen a response, “saying that the President only accused the entire African National Congress of corruption in order to save his own skin.” He further mentioned that his successor had written the letter for his desires “to plead for white validation and approval.”

Also, the Citizen claims that ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) member Tony Yengeni called on President Ramaphosa “to follow his own advice and step down.” Since then, there have been calls for high profile arrests. The mainstream media selectively instigates arrests of certain individuals, and deliberately turns a blind eye on others.

Ramalaine is correct to point out, “Placing these arrests outside these political contexts is to wholly misunderstand what is at play.” He adds that the public should not be misled to believing that “the institutions of the state are finally at work” because what is currently unfolding is a manifestation of ANC internal battles. For Ramalaine, Magashule stands central in the equation of power dynamics within the ANC.

Whether his arrest finally takes place or not, it is immaterial in the bigger scheme of things in as far as fighting endemic corruption is concerned. The whole saga is about the “battle for the soul of the ANC”, as Professor Mervin Gumede terms it, rather than a show of commitment in ridding South Africa of graft, malfeasance, and corruption. The fight against corruption consciously excludes banks and other accredited dealers as facilitators of financial movements in the South African economy.

Not a single financial institution has appeared before Judge Raymond Mnyamezeli Mlungisi Zondo notwithstanding the evidence that financial actors are a critical component in corruption activities. It is therefore a myth that the arrest of Magashule will solve all the problems that are facing South Africa today.

Besides all the arguments presented in this opinion piece, there is no assurance that corruption will come to a sudden halt with arrests and that all these arrests will not be politically motivated. This brings yet another important dimension that the corruption frenzy could be side tracking the public from the real issues that are going unnoticed, especially in the economy.

Even the march by Cosatu and the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) this week could have been a smokescreen. When will Cosatu and the SACP recall their members in government as a show of commitment to fighting corruption? Cosatu has not come out clean as a beneficiary from the Nasrec debacle that continues to divide the ANC.

It's all about which side of the ANC camp your are in: No prosecution so far for Ramaphosa's backers implicated in tender corruption in Limpopo 

Mbeki's downfall as both ANC and South Africa’s President was triggered by his attempt to discard his then Deputy Zuma; and this was followed by a huge political storm that ended with his capitulation. An attempt on Magashule using corruption could spell similar downfall for Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa's letter, according to Limpopo-based Capricorn FM, prompted Zuma to pen a response, “saying that the president only accused the entire African National Congress of corruption in order to save his own skin.” He further mentioned that his successor had written the letter for his desires “to plead for white validation and approval.”

Besides all the arguments presented in this opinion piece, there is no assurance that corruption will come to a sudden halt with arrests and that all these arrests will not be politically motivated. This brings yet another important dimension that the corruption frenzy could be side tracking the public from the real issues that are going unnoticed, especially in the economy.

Even the march by Cosatu and the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) this week could have been a smokescreen. When will Cosatu and the SACP recall their members in government as a show of commitment to fighting corruption? Cosatu has not come out clean as a beneficiary from the Nasrec debacle that continues to divide the ANC.

The arrest of Magashule would open a new chapter in South African politics.