SACBC Justice And Peace Commission is not impressed with ANC NEC position on State Capture Inquiry
Bishop Gabuza has issued the following Press Statement on behalf of the SACBC Justice & Peace Commission.
SACBC JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMISSION IS NOT IMPRESSED WITH ANC NEC POSITION ON STATE CAPTURE INQUIRY
Bishop Gabuza, the chairperson of SACBC Justice and Peace Commission, has said that his commission is not impressed with the ANC NEC position on the judicial inquiry into state capture.
ANC NEC has announced that it wants a judicial probe on state capture. Such a probe should however happen after the court case to review the public protector’s report.
“We are saddened to see that the review process and the sub judice rule are being used by the president and ANC NEC as a delaying tactic. The process could drag for months and years. Chances are such that the probe may never happen. Despite the rhetoric in favour of the probe, both the president and the ANC NEC have not demonstrated the political will to make it happen. This is a cause for concern.”
Bishop Gabuza added that “In the face of the various reports and revelations that are warning us that our country has been hijacked by a patronage network that is linked to the President, the ANC NEC continues to demonstrate that it lacks the collective political will to hold the president to account. We do not therefore trust its sincerity when it says that it wants a judicial probe on the state capture. Its rhetoric on judicial inquiry lacks credibility.”
“The country is in a state of political and economic paralysis as the result of state capture allegations. We need to move on. Many people in the country have now lost confidence in the office of the president and its ability to create a South Africa that benefits the common good, and not a few elite. To restore such confidence, the judicial inquiry should commence now, and not wait for the conclusion of the court case to review the Public Protector’s Report. Its terms of reference should also ensure that it does not result in a white wash, like the previous judicial inquiries that we have seen in our country.”
Justice and Peace Commission is of the view that the president can institute the probe immediately if he wants to. It is also of the view that the ANC NEC can make it happen immediately if it wants to.
“We are of the view that ANC NEC is de facto calling for an inquiry that is different from the one recommended by the Public Protector. The period for the inquiry (dating back to 1994) and the matter under investigation (broadly covering all areas of state capture, and not only the Gupta allegations) are both different from the ones recommended by the public protector. In our view, this is reason enough for the NEC to compel the president to consider immediate establishment of the judicial inquiry without waiting for the conclusion of the court case on the public protector’s report. Delaying tactics should stop.”
Bishop Gabuza has called on all people of good will in South Africa to stand up and speak out against the sad state of our nation. “If we do not do something now to stop the systemic plunder of the state resources by the political elite and the business elite (both from the white monopoly capital and the black monopoly capital), the unhealthy wealth gap that we now see in our country will widen to dangerous levels and later fuel a violent revolution similar to the Arab Spring. The time to stop this from happening is now.”
For more information, please contact:
Bishop Abel Gabuza
+27 (0) 82 549 4324
+27 (0) 53 831 1861
dagabuza@gmail.com
Archbishop William Slattery:
+27 (0) 83 468 5473
