Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso in the organisation’s latest weekly newsletter welcomed the arrests made last week of people involved in alleged corruption related to VBS Mutual Bank.

She says the country has been waiting for National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) director Shamila Batohi to start the process of arresting, charging and obtaining convictions for those involved in State capture.

Mavuso notes that Batohi has had to effectively rebuild the NPA after the institution was steadily undermined for almost a decade through the appointment of supplicants.

She points out that seven individuals connected to the VBS Mutual Bank saga had been arrested and charged in the week ended June 19, while an eighth suspect is under Covid-19 quarantine.

The suspects include an audit partner from KPMG and two representatives of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).

KPMG had its BLSA membership suspended in 2017 because of its alleged involvement in matters related to State capture, and was subsequently readmitted to BLSA following an overhaul of the company’s leadership in South Africa.

The PIC had been under investigation by a judicial commission of inquiry and wide-ranging improvements to its governance have been recommended.

From BLSA’s side, Mavuso says the organisation continues to campaign widely for a greater commitment to ethical practices in companies, while working with government to improve capacity.

Business Against Crime South Africa, a division of BLSA, works tirelessly to ensure that business keeps its own house in order while supporting government in its anti-crime efforts across the criminal justice system, says Mavuso.

“We also partnered with the Gordon Institute of Business Science to launch the Ethics Barometer to drive more ethical behaviour in companies,” she adds.

Meanwhile, she states that, when legal enforcement is perceived as weak and inconsistently applied, some will try and take advantage.

“VBS looks like one of those examples – it was periphery to the core State capture project of creaming margins off State procurement, but borrowed many of the same tools including inducing those meant to protect public money into handing it over to the bank where it was then allegedly stolen.

“In the absence of an effective financial crime investigation and prosecution regime at the time, those involved clearly thought they could get away with it. It is positive that this is now being proved wrong. The NPA needs to mount an effective case and win convictions so the public can clearly see the consequences of corruption.”

Mavuso highlights that more arrests need to be made.

INFRASTRUCTURE VIEW

Further, Mavuso in the newsletter notes that government will, on June 23, host the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium.

The event will present the work of the Presidency and its infrastructure investment office on building a pipeline of infrastructure investment that would be an important part of driving the recovery after Covid-19.

Mavuso has welcomed the President’s intention of unlocking greater infrastructure investment through uniting the private sector and government.

She points out that the private sector is capable and willing to partner in infrastructure investment. For example, the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme attracted more than R200-billion of private sector investment in the first half of the last decade.

Mavuso says the private sector can also be effective partners in building, operating and maintaining assets to ensure high quality and efficient services, not just funding.