26 January 2020
Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi ought to be commended for the swift way his department handled the tragic death of Enoch Mpianzi at the hands of reckless teachers at Parktown Boys’ High School.
In a country where reports are often used to delay justice and accountability, Lesufi has shown it is possible to act swiftly and decisively on officials who are suspected of dereliction of duty, even in the absence of a detailed report.
In our country, we collectively hold our breath to see if, and when, people implicated in malfeasance and downright corruption will be held accountable for their actions.
Take the work done by the office of the auditor-general. Year in and year out the script is the same: billions of rand can’t be accounted for; state employees are doing business with the state; levels of fruitless expenditure remain sky-high; billions are incurred in irregular expenditure – which simply means state employees may have used the funds correctly but did not follow established rules or protocols.
The attorney-general has repeatedly said where there is a political will to improve governance system and adherence to statutes, he has witnessed improvement. The difficulty, though, is that political will to do the right thing has become hard to find currency. As a consequence, state employees know they can violate the laws of the republic with unmitigated impunity.
The television series that is the Zondo Commission into State Capture is another example. Many in the country no longer hold their breath on when those publicly implicated in corruption will be held accountable.
The commission, which has cost the state millions of rand and counting, looks nowhere close to releasing its report. In fact, Zondo has asked for the work of the commission to be extended. This means we are likely not to see arrests any time soon. And why is that? Because for some weird reason, our law enforcement agencies believe Zondo’s report will enable them to make the long-overdue assessments in terms of who to arrest.
They, like many others, are waiting for a report on the matter before they can lift a finger. And as we have seen with the Life Esidimeni saga, these reports do not necessarily lead to justice or the elusive closure.
After all the harrowing evidence at the Life Esidimeni commission, and the glaring neglect by both officials and bureaucrats, the National Prosecuting Authority decided there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against specific individuals.
Our public sphere is replete with examples of institutions awaiting reports before they could act. We are a nation awaiting reports.
This is why when Lesufi acted within a week, ensuring the suspension of Parktown Boys’ High principal, he must be encouraged.
We believe there is much that his seniors in the ANC and in the DA government of the Western Cape and municipalities can learn from his management of this crisis.
We should be a nation of consequences and not be led by cowardly people who wait for release of reports to deal decisively with repugnant behaviour
