There is something uncomfortably familiar about what has become known as the Tuli elephant scandal and it is not just the tradition of cruelty by man to dumb animals. It lies in the apparent impunity enjoyed by some individuals who are engaged in activities which, if not criminal, are anathema to the rest of society.
As we show in our report on the scandal (see PAGE2) – involving the abuse of a group of elephants brought to Brits from Botswana – the dubious activities of the man behind it all, Riccardo Ghiazza, are a matter of record. The purveyor of animals to Hollywood, he has been targeted as a suspected wildlife smuggler by our endangered species protection unit and the United States Fisheries and Wildlife Department for much of this decade. He has an ugly reputation, whether deserved or not, and he has – until this week’s belated apology – seemed unmoved by the damage which his operations have been doing to South Africa’s standing as a responsible guardian of a rich part of the world’s wildlife heritage.
Ghiazza is an Italian who obtained permanent residence from the apartheid government – a detail which is of no significance in itself, but which does remind one of another of his countrymen who also goes about his questionable activities with impunity – the Mafia banker, Vito Palazzolo.
The Mail & Guardian has listed the allegations against Palazzolo ad infinitum – including the charge that he has built up a criminal network of his own in South Africa and that he has facilitated refuge here for Mafiosi on the run for murder allegedly carried out back in Italy. Palazzolo does not even deny such reports. But he seemingly continues to flourish here.
A likely explanation for the inaction is to be found in the story of Pieter Johannes Meyer, the police commander who was bust last week under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. According to investigators, Meyer – head of the KwaZulu-Natal organised crime unit and, before that, of the narcotics bureau – has been living the life of Reilly, splurging money on purchases quite obviously beyond his means, and blatantly intimidating fellow officers to protect crooked casino bosses and drug dealers, among others.
If true, this would suggest that Meyer’s corruption must have been an open secret, at least in law enforcement circles and among criminals in the province. He provides, simultaneously, an illustration of the impunity with which criminality can openly manifest itself in our society and the mechanism by which it is possible.
Whether the seizure of Meyer’s assets will stand up in court on technical grounds is open to question – for one thing it does appear to have been retrospective in effect. Nevertheless, the move by the office of the National Director of Prosecutions is to be applauded for the hope it offers that the authorities are not prepared to allow our society to be treated with contempt by those who would operate outside its moral parameters.
Leadership required
South Africa this week stood on the brink of the worst labour crisis of the post-apartheid era, as 5 000 miners on the East Rand were poised to lose their jobs and tens of thousands more faced unemployment. The obvious question to ask is what the government could possibly have done to stave off the crisis, when it is due to a collapse in the price of a commodity that is determined by brokers, investors and governments many thousands of kilometres away?
The frustration felt by the government was in evidence this week when the new Minister of Minerals and Energy, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, lashed out at the British government, accusing it of reneging on a deal to confer with South Africa before giving the green light to the Bank of England’s gold sale.
While sympathising with the spirit of this sentiment, that the British are to blame for our suffering, it is important to remember that the Bank of England sale has been on the cards for months. The government’s inaction since the announcement has been painfully evident.
Why were members of the South African government not part of the top-level team from the industry and mining unions that went to Washington last month to urge the United States Congress to use its veto to block the International Monetary Fund?
An evident lack of decisiveness and leadership was also to be found in Durban this week, at the gathering of the World Economic Forum. Government ministers reiterated the need for consensus, dancing around thorny questions about why the country was not taking a leadership role in the regional economy. President Thabo Mbeki spoke from the audience in one discussion, inquiring whether South Africa was even fit to lead, given the internal problems it faces.
The answer is self-evident. Out of the 14 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, South Africa alone contributes 75% of the region’s gross domestic product. If South Africa’s economy falters, the SADC region will feel the pain.
The government should spend less time agonising about the egos of some of its neighbours and rather focus on providing the kind of leadership that the people of our country, and of the region, so desperately need.