Corruption Wars: The State has collected about R659 million back in the two years since the Fusion Centre was established, and another R613 million in suspected illicit gains have been frozen. On Monday, Cyril Ramaphosa presented these figures in his weekly newsletter.
Fusion Centre’s Evolving Mandate to Combat Financial Crimes
According to IOL, he said that the monies were obtained through 276 fraud and corruption investigations.
The Fusion Centre, according to Ramaphosa, was initially established to investigate fraud in Covid-19-related procurement. Money laundering, fraud, poor administration, terrorism financing, and other similar acts have since been added to the list of serious financial crimes.
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He went on to say that the Hawks had detailed some of their progress since working with the Fusion Centre last week.
“Between the fiscal years 2019 and 2022, 554 people were detained on suspicion of graft, and 142 were found guilty.”
Lifestyle Audits: SA Revenue Service’s Financial Intelligence Tool
“The SA Revenue Service’s lifestyle audits are another important financial intelligence tool.” According to Cyril, Sars undertook 25 lifestyle audits last year for a total cost of more than R450 million to reconcile disparities between claimed income and an individual’s lifestyle.
He went on to state that he formed the Special Tribunal to assist the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Investigating Directorate within the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in dealing with major graft.
“In the most recent fiscal year, the Investigating Directorate filed over 20 corruption cases, and 65 suspects were charged.” Among them are several examples of “state capture” and other significant graft cases.
Asset Forfeiture Unit’s Freezing Orders and Criminal Assets Recovery Fund
During the previous fiscal year, the Asset Forfeiture Unit acquired freezing orders worth R5.4 billion in relation to graft offences, and R70 million was deposited into the Criminal Assets Recovery Fund.
According to Cyril, the SIU has recovered R2.6 billion in money and assets over the last eight years and put aside R18 billion in contracts.
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“Prosecuting graft-related offences is extremely difficult.” Criminals will go to considerable measures to conceal their activities. They set up shelf firms to hide dubious transactions, quickly shift monies between multiple accounts, mislead tax authorities about their income, and, in the case of government officials, apply for tenders using friends and family to hide their involvement.
This needs an equally smart reaction from the government, he continued.
He claims that his administration’s attempts to restore the ability and credibility of institutions involved in the fight against corruption are bearing fruit.
Collaboration of Law Enforcement Agencies to Impact Criminals’ Finances
“All law enforcement agencies are collaborating to hit criminals where it hurts the most: in their pockets.” Public money that has been robbed or diverted is being recovered, and those guilty are being hauled before our courts.
He also made the appointments of the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council public. The Council will bring together stakeholders from all sectors of society to direct the implementation of the government’s anti-graft agenda.
The new committee will advise the government on the critical institutional capacities, preventive actions, and resources needed to prevent state capture, eliminate fraud, and clean governance.
Ramaphosa’s Own Corruption Scandals: Phala Phala, CR17 Campaign & his spokesperson
Cyril himself has been marred in graft scandals of his own, such as the damning Phala Phala incident, where he reportedly hid undeclared US Dollars, in sofas and mattresses. Then there is the CR17 campaign scandal, where over a Billion rand was injected into his ANC campaign by various donors, with various ANC members receiving substantial amounts of money in order to vote him into office.
Then there is the Covid-19 PPE scandal, where his own spokesperson’s husband, Khusela Diko, was awarded tenders worth R125Mln by the Gauteng Department of Health for the supply of personal protective equipment otherwise known as PPE. One wonders how someone who seems to be clearly corrupt himself could possibly fight graft which he himself is also involved in.
