Commission must lead to consequences, sanctions and ultimately justice
On Sunday, 13 July 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the formation of a commission of inquiry to focus on the shocking allegations that KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi recently made and how the alleged deep-rooted corruption will be dealt with.
While I agree that the allegations must be attended to with the necessary diligence and all parties must be given a fair chance to express themselves, citizens are tired of the many costly, time-consuming and unsuccessful commissions of inquiries.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
Labour Party's legal bid to halt National Dialogue dismissed by Gauteng High Court
President Cyril Ramaphosa claims the dialogue will develop a national ethos and shared value system to unify a divided country, plagued by economic inequality, high crime, unemployment, and political instability. Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers The Labour Party of South Africa has failed in its urgent legal bid for an interim interdict to halt the National Dialogue set to commence on August 15. The party turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to urgently halt the President's decision to convene a National Dialogue and two related conventions. At the heart of its objections were the costs associated with this. It argued that the National Dialogue is not a genuine democratic exercise, but a costly and dangerous duplication of the national legislature. It argued that the National Dialogue Preparatory Committee estimates that the initiative will cost over R700 million, according to an announcement dated June 12. The government, however, in its argument to court, denied this amount. According to the State respondents, a final budget will only be developed following engagements with the National Treasury and other potential partners. The Labour Party's approach to the court was motivated by constitutional concerns. It questioned what power the President has to establish a National Dialogue. It argued that if its ultimate aim is to ensure public participation, create policy and make binding decisions, this is a duplication of the functions of Parliament. It also questioned whether it would be lawful to attach a R700 million price tag for a part of this endeavour. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading They asked the court to halt the National Dialogue, pending an opportunity to later review the President's decision. Acting Judge I de Vos said the Constitution mandates the President to promote national unity and the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court has repeatedly asserted this process is ongoing and that this duty falls to the President. 'The court is not, based on the text of the Constitution and the jurisprudence from the Constitutional Court, persuaded that the President is acting outside his powers,' she said. The judge added that the court is not persuaded that the applicant has made out a prima facie case on this basis or that it bears strong prospects of success in the review on this ground. 'The court is not empowered to determine if a National Dialogue is the best method for promoting national unity. Or if the same people that have been invited to the table to do the preparatory work are the ones the court would have chosen. Or even if it would rather spend money on a National Dialogue or on health care or some other issue.' Judge de Vos added that the goal of the National Dialogue, which consists of public participation and engagement, is to promote national unity. 'There is a rational link between the National Dialogue, particularly one premised on public participation, and the promotion of national unity,' she said. In turning down the application, she concluded that the Labour Party has failed to meet the threshold to show irrationality in the method employed in announcing the National Dialogue. 'The court is not convinced that the Labour Party has proven a prima facie right in this regard and is doubtful as to its prospects of success at the hearing of the final relief,' she said. As to the money involved, the judge said the court is not empowered to ask whether this is the best use of money. That is the domain of the executive. Cape Times
Eyewitness News
an hour ago
- Eyewitness News
Police inquiry: The uniform is compromised and so is the response
Charles Matseke 30 July 2025 | 8:45 Police Crisis South African Police Service (SAPS) Police inquiry President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: Katlego Jiyane/Eyewitness News South Africans, brace yourselves for yet another commission of inquiry. What an expensive way to insult the intelligence of a nation, spending millions of rands to determine whether a corrupt official is guilty or GUILTY. It's less about truth-finding and more about time-buying. Commissions in South Africa have become like national holidays for the political elite: long, ceremonial, and designed to postpone any real work. The latest trigger? KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's explosive public revelation that law enforcement operations are being sabotaged from within by fellow officers, no less. While his comments stopped short of naming names, the message was unmistakable: South Africa's criminal underworld no longer hides in the shadows. It has infiltrated the uniforms, taken over the SAPS headquarters, and embedded itself deep within the state. What followed was predictable: media frenzy, political shock, and subsequently, a commission of inquiry. The public reaction will be equally predictable. People will swing between hysteria and euphoria, cheering every televised cross-examination, every defiant soundbite, every leaked document. There will be hashtags, slogans, and maybe even a few heroic headlines. But beneath the surface, a darker truth simmers: South Africans no longer trust the state to act on any of it. In a time of high populism and institutional decay, commissions of inquiry have become national therapy sessions and emotional safety valves for a public that no longer believes in the rule of law. They absorb rage and release nothing. Mkhwanazi didn't merely raise concerns, he detonated a truth bomb that confirms what South Africans have long suspected. The rot in our security agencies is not incidental. It's institutional. And yet, what will be our national response? Another round of breathless headlines, another parade of 'we'll look into it' soundbites, and inevitably, another inquiry. South Africans have watched this movie before. We know the lines. We know how it ends; it ends with Nothing. The tragedy here is not just that Mkhwanazi had to be so cautious, so cryptic, so calculated. The tragedy is that he had to speak at all. His vague-but-volcanic statement signals how broken the chain of command has become. In a country where whistleblowers are murdered and truth-tellers become liabilities, his very act of speaking was both rebellion and self-preservation. He told enough truth to spark national alarm, but not so much as to guarantee professional suicide or personal danger (arguably). In doing so, he exposed more than corruption. He exposed the architecture of a bureaucratically managed mafia state. We've seen the blueprints before. From Jackie Selebi's fall from SAPS Commissioner to convicted felon, to the infamous 2013 Gupta jet landing at Waterkloof Air Force Base, South Africa's security cluster has long operated like a gated estate for elites and their criminal partners. Mkhwanazi's disclosure is simply the latest reminder that the house is not only burning, it may already be under new, unofficial management, and still, we cling to commissions. Remember the Zondo Commission? Four years. Over R1 billion spent. A 5,000-page record of grand corruption. And yet, as Justice Raymond Zondo himself now admits, the state lacks both the political will and prosecutorial muscle to enforce its recommendations. Before that, we had the TRC—truth without recently, the Life Esidimeni hearings confirmed the deaths of over 140 vulnerable patients in state care, yet no one has truly been held accountable. We seem adept at staging national confessions, but allergic to justice. So, we must ask: Are these commissions meant to uncover wrongdoing, or to manage public outrage? Are they catharsis or cover-up? Malcolm Gladwell, in David and Goliath, teaches us that underdogs win not by following the rules, but by bending them. Mkhwanazi's decision to break rank wasn't heroic in the traditional sense, it was strategic. He understands the terrain. In South Africa, speaking the whole truth can be fatal. So, he gave us just enough. Enough to remind us that the rot isn't just at the periphery, it's at the core. But here's the real danger: in our national story, Goliath almost never loses. The system isn't merely resistant to change, it actively absorbs opposition. It consumes whistleblowers, isolates reformers, and rewards silence. Unless the revelation is backed by elite rivalry or sustained public pressure, the status quo remains untouched. We saw this play out with President Cyril Ramaphosa's selective sense of accountability. Ramaphosa's removal of Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, accused of lying to parliament over senior appointments in the country's training sector. But when it comes to Senzo Mchunu, Ramaphosa's close ally and co-accused in damning corruption allegations, the president adopts monk-like restraint. The hypocrisy is staggering. It's Animal Farm in real time, some comrades are more equal than others. This is the essence of cartel logic. Loyalty trumps legality. Power protects itself. And the law? That's just for the opposition or the poor. Even the SAPS and SAND institutions that should serve as bulwarks against criminality, now stand accused of being complicit. There are whispers (some louder than others) of Hawks investigators being intimidated, even assassinated, allegedly by forces within the state's own military structures. If true, this is no longer corruption, it is treason wearing camouflage. In such a context, vagueness becomes a strategy for survival. Mkhwanazi didn't name names because names come with consequences. He gave South Africa a glimpse, enough to jolt us out of apathy, but not enough to get himself targeted. In a state where truth-telling is dangerous, silence isn't cowardice. It's a calculated protest. If history is any guide, we'll let the political class drag us through another round of commissions, statements, and policy documents that say a lot but change nothing. But perhaps this time we should break the script. Perhaps the public must finally demand more than rhetorical justice. Real investigations. Real arrests. Real jail time. Not just for scapegoats and side characters,but for the architects and beneficiaries of state-enabled criminality. Because let's face it: South Africa doesn't just risk becoming a mafia state. It may already be rehearsing the role. And if we don't act soon, we won't need a commission to tell us who's guilty.
The Citizen
2 hours ago
- The Citizen
IDT CEO, officials must face disciplinary action over R800m tender
DPWI minister confirms providing the Hawks with a forensic investigation report to supplement their criminal investigation. A forensic investigation report into the allegedly irregular and corrupt R880 million hospital oxygen plant tender managed by the Independent Development Trust (IDT) has recommended that disciplinary action be taken against IDT CEO Tebogo Malaka, IDT general manager for supply chain management Dr Molebedi Sisi, and other officials. On Tuesday Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson said the PwC report did not identify any relationship and/or links between the appointed contractors and the IDT or Department of Health (DoH) officials. But Macpherson believed the murkiness surrounding particularly Bulkeng, one of the preferred service providers, would 'have been a red flag right at the beginning'. He added that the department can only work off the evidence provided to it, but if any evidence came forward to suggest something else, they would also look into it. Macpherson said he took a number of actions to ensure consequence management and accountability, including writing to the Hawks and providing them with the report to supplement their current criminal investigation into this matter. '…where criminal allegations exist, I want to ensure the highest chances of success,' he said. ALSO READ: Fake licence and ballooned budget: PwC report places IDT seniors at centre of R800m oxygen tender Macpherson said he had also briefed the minister of health and the newly constituted IDT board on the contents of the report. He stressed that 'accountability must follow and will follow' and the disciplinary process going forward is for the new IDT board to determine. 'South Africans deserve to know how their money was spent – and misused. 'We are not just reacting to this scandal. We are using it as an opportunity to get things right in our entities and department. 'Public Works and Infrastructure has immense potential to be a force for good in South Africa. That's why we must use every opportunity to better our systems and to build towards this goal,' he said. Macpherson quoted directly from a section of the forensic report, which he said 'lays bare the depth of the procedural failings and regulatory breaches uncovered during the investigation.' ALSO READ: Zikalala slams 'spurious' allegations about R45m IDT lease deal, heads to Public Protector Report findings The report found Malaka failed to exercise oversight and confirmed she relied entirely on internal supply chain management (SCM) staff to assure her that the process had followed proper procurement protocol. It further found that Malaka did not verify any of the documentation, act on the red flags raised by the DoH or convene the necessary risk committees to assess the matter. Macpherson said Malaka did not act alone: the report also singles out Sisi for his role in misleading internal stakeholders and failing to act in accordance with his responsibilities. The report found Sisi advised against cancelling the request for quotation (RFQ) process, despite clear warnings from the DoH. It further found that Sisi assured Malaka and evaluation committees that the procurement process was compliant, when in fact key regulatory requirements, such as valid South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) licences, had not been enforced. 'Instead, both the CEO and Dr Sisi approved contracts and accepted flawed internal assurances,' Macpherson said. ALSO READ: Profits on R1.6 billion tenders to be repaid, orders tribunal The report said it therefore appears the IDT appointed eight service providers on the panel for the roll-out of the plants without confirming that any of them met the required criteria, adding that a SAHPRA licence was again not included as a mandatory requirement in the RFQ document. It said Sisi reported that there was an inherent requirement that the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) be SAHPRA registered and bidders were not specifically requested to supply evidence that they were SAHPRA registered, as the equipment was to be procured from the SAHPRA-registered OEMs. The report said Bulkeng, as one of the preferred service providers, did not have the required authorisation to use Atlas Copco's SAHPRA licence and the use of it in Bulkeng's submission to the IDT appears to be irregular. It said the SAHPRA criteria should have been included from the establishment of the panel of service providers and the entire process therefore appears to be irregular. The report said the pre-tender estimate for the project at tender stage was R216 959 849.70 and at design stage R253 317 911.83. It said the DoH was subsequently requested to approve increased funding for the roll out and implementation of the oxygen plants to R592 564 686.66, with the project cost therefore increasing when the market was tested by 174% from the initial estimated budget of R216 006 750. ALSO READ: Macpherson says urgency of court challenge against him 'self-created' According to the report, Bulkeng was awarded facilities with a total offer of R428 069 345.04, which exceeded its Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) grading threshold of R200 million. Macpherson said this means Bulkeng did not qualify at all to be awarded that project. The report further highlighted that the minutes of meetings of the Bid Specification Committee, Bid Evaluation Committee, Management Bid Adjudication Committee and Executive Bid Adjudication Committee are very vague and contain limited information relating to the items discussed during these meetings. Further, the submission documents that were presented often contained incorrect and incomplete information, such as the correct dates of meetings, and record-keeping of these minutes was poor, as none of the meeting recordings could be obtained. ALSO READ: Public works to investigate entity over R800m oxygen plant tender 'A monumental failure in governance' Macpherson said these findings represent 'a monumental failure in governance and adherence to IDT and IDT policies and National Treasury regulations – undermining the integrity of public procurement and threatening donor funds'. He said the SAHPRA compliance requirement originally stipulated in the project execution plan and the DoH's MoA was deliberately removed from the final request for proposals. 'This opened the door for ineligible bidders to participate and win massive contracts. 'Meeting minutes were missing or incomplete – which is shocking but not surprising. 'Committee appointments were not properly constituted. Bid scores were not properly documented. Price negotiations were not transparent,' said Macpherson. He said Bulkeng's CIDB grading limited it to contracts of no more than R200 million and yet the IDT awarded it contracts worth R428 million. Macpherson said only R13.5 million was paid out for the project, which means the IDT is technically short of this amount. He said the PwC forensic report cost R1.9 million. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
