Judge Willem Heath has always said the public and the media are his commission’s greatest allies in the fight against corruption. It is a pity he cannot say the same of senior ministers in the government, notably the two who should have most to gain from his commission’s efforts: Minister of Justice Penuell Maduna and Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel.
The public hostility Maduna and Manuel have adopted towards Judge Heath has been intemperate and, to say the least, ill- considered. However much they have been riled by Judge Heath’s talent for self- promotion and his independence from the sometimes cloying self-satisfaction of the African National Congress aristocracy, this does not justify these ministers’ attempts to belittle his efforts.
A little more thought might have convinced them that among the more powerful weapons Judge Heath has developed in the fight against corruption have been his patent independence and the publicity he has.given to his successes. It is fair conjecture that Judge Heath’s style convinced many a light-fingered bureaucrat, businessperson and public representative that his or her chances of getting away with the state’s money were less than promising.
Now we have unconfirmed and disputed reports that Maduna plans to wind down the Heath commission. Some reports allege Maduna believes it is time Judge Heath himself returned to the bench as an ordinary judge. These reports have added that the Heath unit will deal with its present case load, but will have no further investigations referred to it by the president.
Other judges in the country will be appointed on an ad hoc basis to head particular investigations or attempts to recover state funds, and they might be assisted in doing so by former members of the Heath unit who have developed the appropriate skills in recent years in such areas as forensic accounting.
We can see no good reason at all to reduce the role or resources of the Heath unit, or to break up the combination of talents and skills it has developed. It would verge on the criminal to do so merely to indulge a personal dislike of an honourable and energetic enemy of corruption. We are either at war against corruption, as President Thabo Mbeki has declared, or we are not. On the assumption that Maduna and Manuel agree with the president, they should be big enough to share their trench with a highly effective – even if slightly difficult – ally. The rest of us – in the public and the media – are only too ready to do so.
Mbeki needs to clarify the future of the Heath unit as a matter of urgency. It is unclear whether Maduna has the presence of mind to do so.
Curb pimps of war
Since our full re-entry into the international community in 1994, there have been some commendable aspects to our behaviour. Yes, we can justifiably feel ashamed of the honours we have bestowed on the likes of Indonesia’s kleptocratic former dictator, president Suharto. But we have also shown some virtue. We played an important role in drawing up an international treaty outlawing the use of mines in war; we have not rushed to throw our weight around in our region; and, via presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, we have generally been a voice of considered morality in world forums.
Morality is an unusual standard for foreign policy. And no doubt ours will be tested in the difficult years ahead. But morality – and transparency – are even less common criteria in the matter of arms sales.
This makes the publication on the Department of Defence’s website of quite detailed information on South African arms sales to other countries over the past three years remarkable. Kader Asmal, who besides being minister of education also heads the National Conventional Arms Control Committee, deserves our gratitude for this and for the success he and his committee have had in recent years in ridding South Africa’s arms industry of many of the profoundly evil men who were involved in aspects of it.
THERE IS, HOWEVER, MUCH MORE TO BE DONE IN THIS AREA. SOUTH AFRICANS ARE PROMINENT ACROSS THE AFRICAN CONTINENT IN SMUGGLING ARMS TO WAR-TORN PARTS, MANY OF THOSE ARMS ORIGINATING HERE. UNITA IS AMONG THE GREATEST RECIPIENTS OF THIS TRAFFIC. IT IS THIS AREA OF ILLICIT ARMS DEALING WHICH, MORE THAN ANY OTHER, MUST NOW HAVE SOME LIGHT SHONE ON IT AND MUST BE BROUGHT TO AN END. WE MUST CURB THE PIMPS OF WAR – STARTING HERE ON OUR OWN SOIL. IT IS A JOB FOR ASMAL’S COMMITTEE, BUT ALSO FOR OUR SECURITY SERVICES AND FOR EVERY RESIDENT OF THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA.