Prevention better than cure

MADLANGA: COMMISSION HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR A DIGITAL LEAP

- Amanda Visser

A critical issue highlighted by the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Alleged Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System is the urgent need for South Africa’s criminal justice system to digitally leapfrog into 2026.

Criminals and organised crime syndicates made that leap years ago and continue to exploit technology and gaps in a primarily manual system. They do this with a smile on their face, says Anton du Plessis, CEO of Business Against Crime and a former deputy national director of public prosecutions.

The Madlanga Commission is forcing the country to confront a deeply uncomfortable reality.

Institutions responsible for enforcing the law and protecting South Africans have made themselves vulnerable to criminal infiltration, political interference and internal dysfunction.

Criminals must realise they “cannot game the system anymore”, Du Plessis said during the monthly Espresso Briefs, hosted by Nortons Inc, a boutique firm of lawyers and economic specialists.

During the discussion, he also said commissions of inquiries are not the cure. “They are the X-ray, and what we need now is treatment in the form of prosecutions, disciplinary action and real institutional reform.”

Reform must be measured not by promises, but by cases built, assets recovered, witnesses protected and criminals convicted.

The Madlanga Commission must be the “Nugent moment” for the criminal justice system.