The Internet can be a wonderful thing. It can also be a bit of a bother. The thing is, a quick search on Google can recall statements and information published several years ago which some would want us rather to forget. Mr Paul Ngobeni, for example, did not contend with the power of the Internet when he made statements about his legal troubles in the US which later turned out to be about as accurate as anything Leonard Chuene might have said during the height of the Caster Semenya scandal.
I was reminded of this when I read that former ANC Chief whip, Nyami Booi, yesterday pleaded guilty to theft for abusing Parliamentary travel vouchers. Booi, who now chairs the National Assembly’s defence portfolio committee, was fined R50 000, or five years in jail, and given until January 2014 to pay the money in monthly instalments of R1 000. He was the last MP to face charges for the Travelgate scandal which have sullied the good name of our Parliament.
What will happen now?
Well, a quick search on Google reveals that both the ANC and Parliament have promised that as soon as all the Travelgate cases were finalised, action would be taken against MPs and party members convicted of theft for the travel fraud. On 19 September 2004 the ANC National Executive Committee released a statement dealing, amongst other things, with the Parliamentary Travelgate scandal. I quote:
The NEC noted the ongoing investigation into the alleged misuse of parliamentary travel vouchers. The meeting reaffirmed its support for a full and thorough investigation. It reiterated the approach of the ANC that:
the law must be allowed to take its course without let or hindrance, and that no person should be considered above the law; the principle of presumption of innocence until proven guilty should be observed; the ANC will institute disciplinary action against any of its MPs or other members found guilty of wrongdoing.
On19 March 2005, after the first five ANC members were convicted of fraud because of the Travelgate scandal the ANC said it noted the conviction and sentencing of its five MPs “with seriousness” and intended initiating “relevant organisational disciplinary processes regarding all its convicted members”.
This would only be done when “the due process of law was completed on all ANC members”. Luwellyn Landers, chairman of the ethics committee at parliament, was quoted as saying he did not believe in “parallel investigations” and would prefer the justice system process to run its course before his committee decided whether or not to become involved in probing MPs’ conduct.
As the matter has now been concluded and the “due process of law was completed”, one would obviously expect both the ANC and Parliament to keep its word and to deal with the thieves in their midst in an appropriate manner. I for one take no delight in the Travelgate scandal and feel rather sad and distressed by the whole affair and the way it has tarnished both the ANC and our Parliament.
Parliament and the ANC are both important institutions that play a pivotal role in our democracy. Parliament does not only function as our legislature, but also has a constitutional duty – in terms of section 55(2) of the Constitution – to hold all organs of state accountable and to exercise oversight over the executive and all organs of state. The ANC, in turn, is by far the strongest party in Parliament and, at present, forms the government of the day and has a majority on the various Parliamentary committees tasked with oversight over the executive and holding organs of state accountable.
It is therefore important for all of us that both Parliament and the ANC remain credible and trusted institutions who could command respect from ordinary South Africans. It is in no one’s interest that either the ANC or members of Parliament become known in the popular imagination as crooks and charlatans. If we lose all trust and respect for these venerable institutions, we will, in effect, lose trust in the ability of Parliament to fulfil its oversight and accountability functions. This will weaken our democracy because lack of respect for our democratic institutions and the organisation that currently leads it may well lead to general disengagement from those institutions.
Instead of a loved and revered institutions (or at least respected and trusted institutions) we will have institutions that can only command authority through threats and abuse of power, relying on the might of the police and the army to enforce decisions taken by unpopular and distrusted people seen as serving only their own interests. Or, almost as bad, we will stop taking notice of these institutions – except around braaivleis fires and at comedy festivals where we will laugh at our representatives and mock their criminal ways.
That is why I applauded the statements quoted above at the time they were made, and why I sincerely hope that the ANC and Parliament will keep their word and will take swift action against the thieves who stole our money. I would imagine one way of restoring trust in both Parliament and the ANC while acting in a fair and humane manner would be for the ANC to take effective disciplinary action against its members found guilty of theft.
If I were an ANC disciplinary committee member I would have proposed a one year suspension of the membership of all ANC members found guilty of stealing taxpayer’s money. The ANC members found guilty of theft who still sit in Parliament will then automatically lose their seats in Parliament, but the harsh effects will be tempered by the fact that they could be readmitted to the party in one year’s time. This would demonstrate a forgiving spirit towards the MPs, while also sending a strong signal to ordinary voters that the ANC does not condone theft and dishonesty amongst its members.
If this happens, we may be able to move on; not in a spirit of I-told-you-so vengeance, but rather proud that our institutions are working as they should. Personally, I will be very happy to forgive all the thieves currently sitting in Parliament (as well as the party they serve), if such appropriate action is taken against them. This may then also allow us to begin to rebuild the trust in both the ANC and in the Parliament it currently dominates.
Sentences and fines are one thing and you raise the issue of how the party will deal with the matter from here. (No doubt thrown to a committee who will deem that they have been punished enough already).
But I was also wondering – How goes the matter of recovery of these mis-spent funds?
Parliament’s oversight authority has already abandoned the debt owed the legislature by MPs involved in Travelgate. I think the next step will be to anounce that the MPs involved were appropriately punished by courts of law, and therefore no further action will be taken.
“That is why I applauded the statements quoted above at the time they were made, and why I sincerely hope that the ANC and Parliament will keep their word and will take swift action against the thieves who stole our money.”
Fat chance!
The press report of the ‘trial’ of Mr Booi metioned that he had already re-paid the money. So the fine that he has to pay is additional.
Is that the case with the other guys who also made deals with the courts?
Prof, I submitt that punishment must be proportionate. Do you think that over and above a fifty thousand fine, one can still be made to suffer another punishment if we are to be fair?
To me, repayment means recovery of loss, can you clarify what suspension of membership will assist the public with?
Sebjeni Moyahabo says:
September 29, 2009 at 14:43 pm
“To me, repayment means recovery of loss”
To me it means he/she won’t steal my tax money for a year.
We should stop pursuing the so-called “Travelgate” MP’s.
Pople should understand that the members of our legislature need and deserve to visit their loyal constituents, and even take along friends and family along now and then.
To me, the whole thing smacks of a DA conspiracy to discredit the ruling party. (Is it a coincidence that only one DA MP was named, and he has since left the party?)
Sebjeni Moyahabo says:
September 29, 2009 at 14:43 pm
“… can you clarify what suspension of membership will assist the public with?”
I believe this could be very good tool that Prof is suggesting. It will work in favour of the ANC by showing that they are really serious (under the Zuma government at least) about uprooting corruption and mis-use of public funds. Secondly, it will make me feel better as the tax payer when I know that drastic measures are taken against government officials who abuse my hard-earned money.
Lastly, you need to remember that there is a difference between a judicial fine and a repayment of embezzelled (taxpayers’) money. Judicial fines may be levied but they do not go to the victim per se. However, repayment means that victim is compensated. This line of demarcation becomes more lucid when the victim is a private individual. I may still break and cheese from the shop. The shop-owner may institute civil action to force me to pay back the bread and cheese, both of which cannot be returned to the shop to be sold to another person. However, if I get arrested then the magistrate may deem it unreasonably harsh to imprison me and just sentence me to a fine. You must note that I have paid twice, despite having repaid the amount to the shop-owner.
In this case, the fact that the state is prosecuting and the money for the fine will still go back to the state should not mean that the perpetrators must be better off than the ordinary man on the street for commits the same crime. It would very much be fair for them to repay the money with interest calculated from the time of stealing the money to the date of final repayment PLUS a judicial fine for having committed the offences (i.e. fraud, embezzellement, etc) to show that we do not in any way counternance defrauding the taxpayers, a part of whom I am.
Sne says:
September 29, 2009 at 15:42 pm
“I may still break and cheese from the shop.”
Should read; I may steal bread and cheese from the shop.
Sebjeni Moyahabo, you seem to be conflating two issues. A convicted criminal must be punished and the punishment must be proportionate to the crime. But when one is convicted of a crime there will usually be other consequences not related directly to the criminal punishment. Being convicted for theft is a dismissible offence in our law and when one is dismissed it is a consequence of one’s criminal behaviour. Example: if I work in a Bank and steal money from the Bank and is then convicted of theft. That bank will dismiss me and will have every right to do so as it would be untenable for me to continue working for that Bank.
It seems to me like a no-brainer that public representatives entrusted with the use of public funds who steal some of that funds should be dismissed to safeguard the integrity of the institution they work for in the same way that a school teacher convicted of child rape should be dismissed from his post as a teacher or that a bus driver convicted of drunken driving while on the job should be dismissed. By not dismissing such individuals, one shows utter contempt for the public the individual was employed to serve and, in effect, condones the criminality. Failure to act would irrevocably tarnish the institution for which the criminal works. Whether such an individual could later be rehabilitated is open for debate, but to fail to act is to send a signal that criminal convictions has no consequences outside the criminal law – something that seems ethically preposterous.
One more thing, the ANC NEC promised it would act against the criminals who stole from Parliament. As an honourable party, we can surely expect it to keep its promise? If it does not, we would surely justified to conclude the party is not honourable?
Pierre De Vos says:
September 29, 2009 at 16:55 pm
One more thing, the ANC NEC promised it would act against the criminals who stole from Parliament. As an honourable party, we can surely expect it to keep its promise? If it does not, we would surely justified to conclude the party is not honourable?
———————————————————————————————————
Fat chance that’s gonna happen.
There’s a greater probability that the ASA would fire Cheune than these cheaters being fired!
Now that the DA has called for heads to roll…
http://mg.co.za/article/2009-09-29-da-calls-on-booi-to-resign-as-mp
…I expect any remote chance that the ANC would discipline their own is well and truly over.
Looking on the bright side, at least sweeping muck under the carpet instead of vacuuming saves electricity.
Lets not get our hopes up people, for a number of reasons:
1. In South Africa, the last time I can recall an ANC MP being fired for anything other than disagreeing with party leadership was…never.
2. Mr Booi doesn’t seem to be too concerned about his future. He is quoted by the racist right wing media as stating, to paraphrase, that he’s just glad it’s over so he can get back to his job as an MP and “serve” the people.
It would be a breath of fresh air to watch him get the boot – after all, he’s been convicted of theft, which is a crime, regardless of the sentence the court handed down. But sadly I don’t think it’s going to be the case in this regard, which will send (again) the message that it doesn’t matter what you do wrong, as long as you have the right connections in the ANC.
This is South Africa, this is what we chose for ourselves. I hope the next criminal MP who decides to steal money does so from funds that are earmarked for the development of poor rural black communities and squatter camps. At least then somebody might riot for the right reasons for a change.
No equality under the law. Finish en klaar .
All a bunch of ethically challenged opportunists. I hope someday in the future wealth is distributed more evenly and receiving education is the norm. Only then will the poor uneducated masses be able to vote based on party merit. I see the trend amongst ANC members is to completely forget about the struggling people once they are wealthy. This leads o