‘An insult to South Africans’: Steenhuisen on Ramaphosa’s address

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s latest address saying  he provided an analysis of the Zondo Commission Report which is something already known to the public. 

Ramaphosa addressed the country on Sunday, 23 October revealing what course of action he will be taking against those implicated in the State Capture Report. 

STEENHUISEN SLAMS RAMAPHOSA’S ADDRESS

Reacting to the address, Steenhuisen said instead of providing an analysis the president should have instead stated what the executive he leads intends to do to insulate government processes from grand theft again.

The DA leader said much of what the Ramaphosa said was existing work that is already being done by law enforcement agencies. Nothing was said about bolstering their capacity to do the kind of investigative work that is needed to prosecute those who plundered public money.

“More glaringly, the President completely avoided making any announcements about cabinet ministers who have been implicated in State Capture and how he will be holding them to account. This is firmly within his mandate and yet he made a vague mention about looking into this,” he said.

During his address Ramaphosa highlighted the following ten things:

1. An independent anti-corruption agency for procurement and an anti-corruption unit will form part of a fundamental redesign of the country’s anti-corruption architecture. A comprehensive proposal will be produced for public consultation, finalisation, and execution.
2. Procurement will come under focus. The Public Procurement Bill will be finalised and submitted by early 2023. This will include a code of conduct around procurement and making procurement more transparent.
3. New processes for the appointment of boards of SOEs will be put in place, so it is not open to tampering. This includes independent reviews and panels for appointments. No board members will be allowed to be involved with procurement processes. Ministers will be prohibited from playing any role in procurement at SOEs.

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