Page 13 - The Economist

Leaders The Economist December 9th 2017 13

The corruption of South Africa

To avoid a dire, two-decade dynastyofdysfunction, the ruling ANC should ditch the Zumas
OUTH AFRICA’S Constitu- ed bythe chiefjusticeisunconstitutional. He did not comment
Stional Court may be the on the matteroflootingfrom state-owned enterprises.
world’s most emotionally pow- What is unusual about South Africa is not that corruption
erful building. The courtroom is thrives, but that it does so in plain sight. Thanks to a history of
built with the bricks of the Old civic activism, a free press and a robust judiciary, South Afri-
Fort prison, where both Nelson cans are aware ofthe wholesale theft. Investigative journalists
Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi have catalogued corruption at all levels of government. Week
were held. A glass strip around after week, activists and opposition parties challenge the gov-
the courtroom, allowing passers-by to see in, represents trans- ernment in court. A former finance minister estimates that
parency. Above the entrance, the values ofthe constitution are 150bn-200bn ($11bn-15bn) rand, 5% ofGDP, has been filched.
set in concrete in the handwriting of the first constitutional The ANC leadership election offers what ought to be an
judges after apartheid—including the childlike script of Albie easy choice. Ms Dlamini-Zuma is expected to protect her ex-
Sachs, who had to learn to write with his left hand after the husband, who faces 783 counts ofcorruption. She, like him, es-
white regime’ssecurityservicesblewoffhisrightarm. In pain- pouses“radical economictransformation”, which involvesfis-
ful contrast with its uplifting setting, a recent conversation be- cal indiscipline and expropriation. She, like him, employs ra-
tween an Economist journalist and an official working in the cially charged rhetoric to deflect criticism. A victory for her
building was, at the official’s request, conducted outside and, would undermine the economy, jeopardise social harmony—
asa furtherprecaution againstsurveillance bytoday’ssecurity fragile, in a country with the fifth highest murder rate in the
services, the journalist was asked to leave her phone inside. It world—and entrench state capture.
is a measure ofhow far South Africa has fallen from the ideals
it embraced when it was reborn afterapartheid. Cyril vcynicism
Under President Jacob Zuma, the state is failing. Contracts Mr Ramaphosa’s election would not on its own ensure a swift
are awarded through bribes and connections; ruling-party return to clean government. Corruption runsdeep, atall levels
members murder each other over lucrative government jobs; ofthe party. Itdid nothelp thata pre-Zuma ANC policyof“em-
crooks operate with impunity. powering ” black tycoons by encouraging the transfer of large
Next week comes a moment that may determine whether stakes in white-owned firms to them made a handful of ANC
South Africa slides further into this mire or starts to recover. At bigwigseffortlesslyrich. Thisseta precedentthatpolitics in the
a conference that starts on December 16th the ruling African new South Africa can be a shortcut to vast wealth. One of the
National Congress (ANC) is due to choose the successor to Mr biggest beneficiaries was Mr Ramaphosa himself, which com-
Zuma as its leader, and thus its candidate for presidency ofthe plicateshiscampaign to purge the partyofrent-seeking. None-
country. The front-runners are Mr Zuma’s ex-wife and pre- theless, there is no suggestion that he broke the law, and he is
ferred candidate, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and the deputy outspoken in his condemnation of those who now brazenly
president, Cyril Ramaphosa. For South Africa and for the do so. He is also pragmatic in his plans to boost economic
whole African continent, MrRamaphosa needs to win. growth and provide South Africans with jobs and education.
The numbers suggest MrRamaphosa is in the lead, yet he is
Mandela weeps nota shoo-in. The stakesare high forMrZuma and his political
South Africa is no longer in the forefront of the world’s con- skillsare consummate. Those who betagainsthim tend to lose.
sciousness, as it was in the 1990s when it made its miraculous- His compatriots await the result nervously.
ly peaceful transition from a racist regime to a modern democ- Some well-intentioned South Africans think it would be
racy. But it still matters, and not just to its 57m people. With its better if Ms Dlamini-Zuma won, because the country has be-
superiorfinancial and physical infrastructure, itis Africa’seco- come too much like a one-party state, and an ANC run by her
nomic hub. Its diplomatic and moral authority shapes south- would be more likely to lose the election in 2019. That is a dan-
ern Africa, forworse aswell asbetter: withoutitssupport, Rob- gerous argument. The multiracial, centrist Democratic Alli-
ert Mugabe would have lost power in Zimbabwe long ago. ance would indeed be better than the ANC, and is gaining in
And, atthe moment, itisthe site ofthe mostvisible battle in the popularity: it now governs the country’s three most important
world between good and bad government. cities. Butthe hard-leftEconomicFreedom Fighters, who might
Alarmed South Africans have watched the progress of be worse than the ANC, are gainingground, too. And the ANC,
“state capture”, whereby private actors subvert the state to with its liberationist credentials, might win in 2019 even under
steal public money (see page 23). In a report in 2016 the former Ms Dlamini-Zuma, who as president would cement the Zuma
public protector detailed allegations that the Guptas, business clan’s grip on the levers of power. South Africa would start to
associates ofMr Zuma’s family, offered the finance ministry to lookuncomfortably like a hereditary kleptocracy.
a politician they hoped would be pliable and used political in- Its people deserve better. The rainbow nation still has the
fluence to loot state-owned enterprises. She called for a judi- potential to be a beacon ofprosperity and good governance in
cial inquiry. Mr Zuma says he has no knowledge of the job of- Africa, but memories of its hopeful birth are a melancholy
fer, and will establish an inquiry, but he claims that the public counterpointto itsdarkpresent. The bestchance for recovering
protector’s demand that the judge in charge must be appoint- that optimism is a victory forMrRamaphosa. 7