Our watchdogs are waking up — the guardians of the public good across the private and public spheres are baring their teeth in favour of the citizen and the consumer.
It has come not a moment too soon, as these offices are vital to ensuring transparency in public process and private transaction, as well as to protect against the abuses of power by business or public officials and representatives.
In the past week, auditor-general Shauket Fakie has released two reports revealing that he is concerned about the lack of transparency in the disclosure of private business interests by politicians and senior public servants.
He found, alarmingly, that 14 Cabinet ministers and their deputies had not made declarations, though he added the rider that company deed records were sometimes out of date. More alarmingly, Fakie revealed that more than 11 000 senior civil services moonlight. What do we pay them for?
His work highlights the that the system of disclosure is not working in a thoroughgoing way. It is left to individual conscience — never a sufficient guarantee — to declare fully. There is no system of auditing the declared interests against potential conflicts.
The system is imperfect, but it is a good thing that Fakie has shone a light on the dangerous space that is the intersection of business and politics.
In the private sector, the watchdogs are also finally baring their teeth, spurred perhaps by the Pension Funds adjudicator, Vuyani Ngalwana, who last year strong-armed the retirement funds industry into a R2,6-billion “agreement” to repay unjustified charges on members’ old-age savings plans. The agreement was forged after a series of stinging findings by Ngalwana against the industry so influenced public opinion that profits were threatened.
The Financial Services Board announced this week that it would look into the practice of “bulking” through which Alexander Forbes and perhaps other financial services companies made tens of millions of rands in profits that they did not pass on to retirement funds. Personal Finance, which revealed the scandal, describes the practice as the placing of all retirement funds’ credit balances in a single “bulk” account to secure higher interest payments. This is a scandalous abuse, on a par with Travelgate, Oilgate and other headline-grabbing abuses of public finances.
The ripple effect is being felt in other industries too. Charles Pillai, the ombud for financial services providers, is also taking a whip to exorbitant charges levied on short-term policies.
For too long, ombud offices in the private sector have seen themselves as adjuncts of industry. Finally, new incumbents are using their powers to protect the powerless.
And, in the public sector, Fakie is making up for his jellyfish impersonation during the arms deal probe. The developments are to be applauded.
No sex please, we’re South African
Manitha Singh should have given her husband, Narend Singh, KwaZulu-Natal’s erstwhile provincial tourism minister, a bollocking for his Hotel Elangeni Escapades, released last weekend. Some of us might also advocate leaving him and suing his sorry arse, but, after 31 years, Mrs Singh appears to be standing by her man.
And that should have been that. It is, after all, an issue entirely in the private sphere. But for “going at it with gusto” (as newspaper reports so delicately put things) with a local socialite, Singh has stepped down from his job, one he reportedly did with commitment and competence. The DVD of the action was circulated to all and sundry in what appears to be a small town political smear.
South Africa has borrowed the puritanical traditions of British and American politics, where being caught with your pinstripes down is considered automatic grounds for removal from office.
Other countries approach this issue quite differently: the French media ignored the fact that former French president Francois Mitterrand had a child by his long-standing mistress, viewing it as a personal matter. Similarly, former Greek premier Andreas Papandreou was in the habit of taking his mistress to official functions. Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki is embattled for many reasons but not because his mistress has quasi-official second lady status.
Despite Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s oily congratulations to Singh for putting South Africa first, it may safely be assumed that he was put under enormous pressure to step down. This is humbug, particularly from an organisation that sanctions polygamy. Infidelity may be an issue for spouses, but it should not be one for the electorate or the politician’s party.
On this social issue, as in so many others, South Africa shows itself to be deeply conservative — indeed, far more conservative than its liberal democratic Constitution.
We punish people for some human foibles, but allow those who rob the public purse, who take bribes, who cheat on their travel vouchers to get away scot-free or with a slap on the wrist. They keep their jobs, get promoted, win further tenders. The din of public opinion on these issues is barely audible. Yet, get caught bonking a busty brunette and you’re out of a job.