Former mayor of Tshwane and ANC senior provincial leader in Gauteng Kgosientso Ramokgopa painted a picture of a South Africa free of corruption in the governing ANC, during an elections debate hosted by City Press on Tuesday night. 

Ramokgopa, whose administration in Tshwane has been blamed for a R2bn deficit by the DA, was adamant that under the ANC, corrupt individuals, including leaders, would be brought to book. 

Speaking at the debate, titled Battleground Gauteng – the Chiefs and Kingmakers, Ramokgopa was one of the panellists of party leaders who were quizzed by the audience on their manifestos. 

He said corruption was a manifestation of a failure of leadership, adding that there was a correlation between corruption and failed leadership.

“Corruption has got a disproportionate impact on the poor because the poor relies on the fiscus, on social services for their wellbeing, so in fact you are penalising the poor as a result of corruption.”

He said the party should hold itself to high morals and strengthen the foundation of democracy by intensifying the powers of the security cluster. 

Ramokgopa was seated next to fellow former mayor Solly Msimanga, who investigated allegations of maladministration against the ANC-led government in the city during his tenure. 

Honest and professional police 

In his address, Msimanga said the DA was calling for an honest and professional police service to cut corruption. He said the DA wanted a coordinated service delivery effort in the province and local municipalities. 

Msimanga said the country needed to have specialised units on organised crime and gangsters. “Also, you need to have a unit that specialises [in] crime intelligence. South Africa doesn’t have intelligence to do preventative combating of crime.”

EFF calls on NPA to report to parliament

Addressing the need for a better prosecution authority, EFF premier candidate Mandisa Mashego said the party would ensure the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) reports directly to Parliament, instead of the justice ministry. 

She said the NPA needed to stop recycling young black prosecutors without training them as specialists.

“A lot of the black prosecutors are recycled from court to court and are not given an opportunity to become experts on certain case matters. We are going to focus on the appointment of new additional prosecutors and upscale and train the existing ones but also make sure they specialise in cases… It’s a common fact that the black prosecutors are highly discriminated against. It’s the same in the police.”

Courts in Mthatha were closed on Monday, when black attorneys and advocates took off their robes in protest over assigned cases, Daily Dispatch reported.