/ 5 July 2010

Selebi conviction ‘a positive development’

Selebi Conviction 'a Positive Development'

Comment on former police national commissioner Jackie Selebi’s corruption conviction in the South Gauteng High Court last Friday continued to draw reaction on Monday.

“The outcome of the Selebi corruption case is certainly a positive development, because it demonstrates that not all senior ANC politicians are above the law,” Democratic Alliance spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard said.

However, the case should in retrospect serve to highlight two particular issues.

Firstly, the essential role played by the former Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions), which was controversially disbanded last year, in instigating investigations of politicians.

Secondly, the chronic failure of the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment.

The fact that a guilty verdict had been delivered served yet again as evidence of the fact that the Scorpions were the most effective investigative unit in the history of the South African justice system.

They were not afraid of investigating senior politicians in the ANC, in large part because their independence offered them the ability to act without fear or favour in upholding the law, she said.

“Selebi’s guilty verdict demonstrates exactly why the Scorpions were disbanded.

“The new ruling faction of the ANC clearly saw how effective the Scorpions were in prosecuting senior politicians guilty of wrongdoing, and decided to take action to ensure they were disbanded and replaced by a unit in the police department that would be easy to manipulate and politicise, both directly and via indirect means like under-resourcing.”

Secondly, Selebi’s case was one of the most egregious examples of the toxic effect on institutions of the ANC practice of cadre deployment.

Selebi was a former ANC member of Parliament who was put in diplomatic and bureaucratic positions before moving on to be the head of the police.

He had no proper expertise in security issues when he was appointed national commissioner, his only qualifications stemming from his connection to the ruling political elite and time served in the ANC, Kohler-Barnard said.

‘High levels of transparency’
The Young Communist League of South Africa (YCLSA) also welcomed the judgement.

“We applaud the high level of transparency in the processes of the case. This affirms the independence of the judiciary and the justice system,” it said in a statement.

The case sent a strong message to those using government positions to solicit funds and tender deals in government as a stepping stone towards wealth accumulation — such actions would have dire consequences.

Struggle and political credentials should not be opportunistically used by individuals to evade the wrath of the law.

Corruption continued to be a hindering cancer on service delivery, to the detriment of the people. It further dented the credibility of the government.

“We applaud the prosecution for the commitment shown in the case. The very same zeal and commitment should equally be used to curb corruption in the private sector, particularly for those who hold directorship positions.

“Senior positions within the government should never be immune to investigation or prosecution,” the YCLSA said.

The South African Students’ Congress (Sasco) said in another statement “we hope that the state should arrest more”.

“Although we welcome this conviction, we are not surprised to learn that capitalists, even cops, have had to resort to crime to accumulate.

“It is the nature of the system. Capitalism is a criminal economic system founded on the basis of capitalists stealing money from the working class and calling it profit,” it said. — Sapa