Publication: Sunday Independent Issued: Date: 2008-04-13 Reporter: Patricia de Lille

Corruption is a Crime and Does Not Deserve Amnesty

 

Publication 

Sunday Independent
Date

2008-04-13

Reporter

 Patricia de Lille

Web Link

www.sundayindependent.co.za



Second Opinion : Patricia de Lille says those involved in arms deal corruption cannot be pardoned, but should instead be subjected to the full force of the law

Patricia De Lille says those involved in arms deal corruption cannot be pardoned, but should instead be subjected to the full force of the law.

In the last few weeks there has been a campaign to garner support for the idea of an amnesty for those involved in arms deal corruption.

The argument put forward in support of such an amnesty is that it might be the only way to expose the full extent of the arms deal corruption and deal with it once and for all.

This argument is fundamentally flawed for a number of reasons. Those responsible for the corruption do not deserve any form of amnesty, because their actions were not about furthering a higher political cause, but rather their own individual greed and the coffers of the ANC.

Corruption is criminal, not political. There is no higher moral value and no political cause or struggle involved here. It is simply a crime by those entrusted by the people to represent them.

In this instance they are crooks, not freedom fighters, and we cannot provide amnesty for criminal offences, whether they have political consequences or not. If you commit a crime, you must pay the price and the law must run its course. What kind of precedent would we set if we pardoned criminals because they happen to be members of the ruling party?

As a country we are desperately in need of strong moral leadership. Crime and violence are threatening the dream of the South Africa we fought for during the struggle. Granting amnesty for arms deal corruption will undermine our justice system, which is predicated on the principle that criminal activities, no matter who commits them, must be investigated and subjected to the full force of the law. If amnesty is granted, those in power will have failed in their duty to provide the moral leadership our country so desperately needs .

The people of South Africa should not be fooled into thinking that the truth about the arms deal corruption will never come out if amnesty is not granted. Instead they will know that allegations contained in the De Lille dossier have already led to the successful prosecution of Tony Yengeni and Schabir Shaik, and that soon Jacob Zuma himself will stand trial for, among other charges, corruption in the arms deal.

They will also know that prosecution authorities in the UK, Germany and Sweden are slowly closing the net on the arms deal crooks in their countries and ours. The truth will come out.

The initial stance of denial taken by the ANC and its subsequent attempts to cover up the truth by suppressing any meaningful investigation of the allegations contained in the De Lille dossier, which I tabled in Parliament in September 1999, is the reason why the whole truth has thus far not been revealed.

What is therefore clearly needed is not amnesty, but a comprehensive judicial commission of inquiry, followed by court action against the perpetrators of corruption, which diverted billions of rand from the taxpayers and the poor.

The ANC's obstructionist attitude on this issue and its failure to appoint such a commission of inquiry cannot be rewarded by granting amnesty.

If a dark cloud of suspicion now hangs over the ANC and many of its leaders, that is the price it must pay for its dishonesty. The ANC and the government must finally begin to take their promises about ethical and moral duties and clean governance seriously.

The call for an amnesty is emerging at a time when the investigations by the UK, German and Swedish prosecution authorities into the arms deal are starting to uncover massive kickbacks to the tune of millions. It also comes at a time when the ANC leadership is trying desperately to remove all obstructions standing in the way of a Jacob Zuma presidency.

Let the ID party make its stance very clear ­ the ANC president has the same right to a fair trial as any ordinary South African. It is clear that the truth will finally come out and that over the long run, as the wheels of justice continue to grind, not one corrupt individual will be able to avoid exposure and prosecution.

Instead of an amnesty, the ANC and the government should avoid prolonging this process and declare once and for all ­ by the appointment of a judicial commission of inquiry ­ that they are determined to come clean and root out the corrupt individuals in their ranks. The first step for the ANC is to confess to the people of South Africa that it received R500 000 from arms company ThyssenKrupp, as I have previously confirmed in Parliament.

De Lille is the leader of the Independent Democrats

With acknowledgements to Patricia de Lille and Sunday Independent.