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Chief Prosecutor Hermione Cronje (Photo: Elizabeth Sejake / Media24)
The country must confront its culture of impunity for corruption, and civil society groups believe that it should include holding companies accountable for the economic crime of apartheid. NPA defender Hermione Cronje is listening, but her unit faces tough decisions.
Defender Hermione Cronje understands the pressure on her team to convict politicians involved in state capture, but says that understanding patterns of looting is critical to avoiding the ongoing cycle of corruption and impunity.
“I think the networks we are facing today are networks that go back decades and it is important for us to understand how those networks work, ”the head of the NPA’s research directorate said Thursday.
Cronje spoke at a webinar organized by the civil society group Open Secrets and the Financial mail on the fight against the economic crime of apartheid.
Open Secrets has submitted a memorandum to the NPA calling for the prosecution of two European banks, KBC Group and KBL, accused of laundering up to R350 billion so that the apartheid government can violate international sanctions and the purchase of arms.
The call to prosecute the banks has been supported by 23 civil society organizations.
Open Secrets approached the NPA after Belgian and Luxembourg authorities, as well as the OECD, rejected requests to investigate the banks.
“I think people make the mistake if they say, ‘That’s the past and State Capture is now a completely different beast.’ There are continuities and we see these continuities in the washing networks, ”said Cronje.
According to Hennie van Vuuren of Open Secrets, Belgium-based KBC Group and Luxembourg’s KBL, formerly Kredietbank Luxembourg, made huge profits while facilitating the acquisition of arms by the apartheid government, essentially enabling what The United Nations declared a crime against humanity.
Yasmin Sooka, who served as a commissioner on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), said the business sector actively supported the security and economic structures of the apartheid regime.
“There’s this unbroken line, actually, of the structural underpinnings of corruption in our system, and unless we start to dismantle that, we’re never really going to deal with the rule of law, and they saw it with the gun business. You see that even with the speculation of the PPE, ”said Sooka.
“First, there is the question of impunity, but second, I think there is the question of the structural dimension of why all this is possible. And while we look at the politicians, let’s be very honest: without banks and money laundering, could politicians do what they do? ”. she asked.
Speakers at the webinar spoke about the country’s culture of impunity, which began in the democratic era when authorities failed to prosecute cases that the CVR referred for investigation.
There have been multiple failed attempts through US courts to hold big business accountable for the economic crimes of apartheid. Before groups like Khulumani Support Group and Jubilee South Africa started those cases, Sooka said they spoke with President Nelson Mandela about seeking business in foreign courts.
“His only problem with us at the time was that we weren’t supposed to bet on South African corporations because he still believed that they would come to the party, participate in the repairs, and that at some point there would be a wealth tax, which really lets us really look at the havoc. of the systematic legacy of apartheid “.
Van Vuuren said public mistrust has developed because notions of responsibility are applied through a narrow political lens, such as supporting the impeachment of former President Jacob Zuma and overlooking the crimes of apartheid.
“We address that by saying that we do not allow impunity to flourish, that regardless of how powerful you are in our society, we have a set of rules that are based on our Constitution and we will enforce them to keep you and your power in check. . When we don’t, that distrust arises.
“You cannot choose justice, ”Van Vuuren said.
Cronje, whose office will evaluate the Open Secrets memo on KBC and KBL before deciding whether to pursue the case, said that would be the case in an ideal world. But the NPA’s resources are limited and she has to make “awkward decisions” about what to pursue.
“We’ve had to be pretty brutal in saying, actually, if we’re going to take on all of this, nothing’s going to get done. We have to select the cases that we believe have the best chance of having the evidence stand in court and are cases that will have an impact, ”he said.
If he decides to pursue the case against European banks, Cronje said he would not distract attention from the NPA’s state capture cases. He said he would look for points of “synergy” where they overlap.
Cronje and NPA Director Shamila Batohi have emphasized the need to rebuild the NPA, which was emptied by various leaders prior to Batohi’s appointment in 2018. Cronje said the NPA is building capacity and trying to attract expertise, to an affordable cost, necessary to tackle high-level corruption and financial crime.
“It is serious corruption, it is complex corruption and it is high profile corruption. Each of them has a unique set of requirements to address effectively, ”he said.
“When it comes to high-profile corruption, it’s about CEOs of very powerful companies. You are dealing with banks. These are politicians who operate at the highest level. So there’s the intense scrutiny you face doing this kind of work. “
Cronje said there is significant pressure on her unit to act, but no one had tried to bribe her or ask her not to pursue a case she is investigating.
Open Secrets wants to see KBC and KBL representatives in the dock in South Africa for their alleged crimes, but cases involving companies could result in financial settlements.
Cronje said several companies approached his unit and volunteered to admit to their crimes and return the proceeds of corruption. He said the NPA needs to develop guidelines on when it will accept financial deals.
For Open Secrets, that process of building a culture of responsibility, whether it results in incarceration or financial settlements, must include holding companies that benefited from apartheid to account.
“Our country has been a source of extraction for decades. People take what they can and run. This is the process we want to stop, ”said Van Vuuren.
Sooka said: “I would say that in fact taking up this case is really about the institutional reform that is necessary in our South Africa today, to ensure that we do not have impunity today as we have seen from much of the corruption scandals in our country. ”. DM
