One of the more striking findings of a recent Markinor survey on voter attitudes is a marked worsening in perceptions of the government?s record on transparency and accountability. Voter endorsement fell from 52% to 35% between May 2000 and March this year.
Last year’s handling of the arms package has undoubtedly fuelled the sense that the government is excessively closed and defensive. The overwhelming impression was that government leaders were intent on shielding the deal from full scrutiny. Reinforcing the impression of a cover-up was the apparent unwillingness to act against senior African National Congress member Tony Yengeni, suspected of profiting corruptly from the deal. Yengeni was stubbornly retained as parliamentary chief whip despite the allegations against him, and shielded from a parliamentary ethical inquiry.
A major contributor to public scepticism is the repeated spectacle of politicians and officials who have either lied or made false statements, sometimes later retracted, because they did not know what they were talking about. Last year Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete was forced to withdraw his ?coup plot? claims against three ANC-linked business executives. A recent case was Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Penuell Maduna?s claim that the high court ruling on nevirapine applied only in Gauteng.
There were two further instances this week, both sequels to articles carried by the Mail & Guardian. Responding to our report that thousands of sensitive Truth and Reconciliation Commission documents have vanished, apparently after being handed to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Minister of Intelligence Lindiwe Sisulu claimed they were in the safekeeping of the Department of Justice. The justice department insists they are with the NIA. Someone must be lying — and violating the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The impression is the documents are being withheld, or have been destroyed, to protect reputations.
In the second case, Strategic Fuel Fund boss Renosi Mokate denied that Swiss-based oil company Glencore International, under contract to supply Iraqi oil to South Africa, had violated United Nations sanctions against Iraq. Unfortunately, the Swiss government confirmed that Glencore was indeed investigated and penalised by the UN for sanctions-busting. The suspicions of something fishy are reinforced by the fact that Glencore?s previous owner, Marc Rich, faced fraud and tax evasion charges in the United States and was embroiled in a party funding scandal. Why, of all the potential suppliers, did the government have to choose this company?
Sisulu may genuinely think the documents are in the justice department, and Mokati that Glencore is as pure as driven snow. But the inevitable impression is that government is not on the level. It is by the steady accumulation of such incidents that public confidence is undermined.
Stop the rot
One year to the day after the crowd stampede at Ellis Park in which 43 people died at a Kaizer Chiefs-Orlando Pirates soccer derby, the presidency has seen fit to release the preliminary report into the disaster.
The leisurely pace of the investigation, the cynical timing of the report?s release and the treatment of the bereaved would be regarded as scandalous elsewhere. In South Africa soccer, however, these are the norm.
The preliminary report by Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe?s commission of inquiry, first promised by Christmas at the latest, was finally handed to the presidency last month. The presidency then sat on the report until media speculation about findings forced its hand.
Contemptuously, the government announced the report would be available on its website on Thursday — if anyone was interested. There would be no press conference to explain its import — just a few platitudes from the Minister of Sport and Recreation Ngconde Balfour.
The report, too, is, to put it mildly, a disappointment. The commission?s terms of reference did not include apportioning blame. But it is needlessly vague on the facts. It states that tear gas ?or a similar substance? seems to have been used, but it does not say by whom and why. It merely outlines 14 factors that contributed to the disaster. It says no single factor caused the stampede, but that ?all role players were remiss?. There was ?dereliction of duty? on the part of security officials. But, because no one was in charge of overall security, the report requires no one to accept responsibility. There was corruption in ticket allocations, but the report names no names.
Surely ? surely ? the commission?s duty was to uncover how and why there was no one in charge, and who allowed everyone and his dog through the stadium gates? In South Africa, however, it seems protecting the elite is more important than uncovering the truth. For top government officials are on the boards of clubs, while discredited public officials find lucrative employment. The sport is shedding sponsors and supporters, smaller clubs are struggling, and everyone?s hand seems to be in the cookie jar.
Judge Ngoepe must ensure that he takes the gloves off in his final report. And the government must shake up the house of soccer.