How to transform exposure into closure

In 2018, I shared an idea with a few friends and colleagues. To deal with systemic corruption, in the context of weakened state capacity and a dangerous shift of national attention away from development towards outrage about crime and corruption, a truth and amnesty process a truth and reconciliation-type intervention — might be a viable option.

- Busani Ngcaweni

The reaction was sharp. Some colleagues, like Dumisani Hlophe-Tembe, objected strongly, believing it would grant a free pass to people who should face the long arm of the law.

Others were more measured. Advocate Vasu Gounden, a senior expert on global governance and conflict-resolution from the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (Accord), suggested a more scientific approach. He shared comparative case studies of corruption amnesty experiments from different countries.

At the time, the idea seemed provocative, even reckless. But given the ongoing national spectacle, with cycles of commissions, prosecutions and exposures that fail to deliver closure, I have returned to that idea, this time with the benefit of historical evidence, comparative analysis and theoretical reflection. South Africa has not ignored corruption. On the contrary, it has tried a multitude of interventions. The Scorpions once embodied a bold prosecutorial strike force. They were disbanded in a storm of political contestation. Their successor, the Hawks, inherited neither their independence nor effectiveness and became entangled in the politics they were meant to police.

The investigative directorate in the National Prosecuting Authority, created to pursue corruption and state capture cases, has struggled with insufficient resources and cases that are too complex, involving procurement webs, international networks and forensic evidence that are beyond its capacity. It has now been implicated in the Madlanga commission.

Once shackled to presidential proclamations and sealed reports, the Special Investigating Unit has greater scope to act proactively.