Money Problems

   Money Problems
by Ritika Shetty

Imagine living in a place where only a few powerful people get to decide how the country’s money is spent. This is currently happening in South Africa and it is getting worse every day. Transparency International’s Global Corruption Perception Index shows that South Africa has dropped 34 places since 2001 in the Global Corruption scale and is continuing to decline (Corruption). This shows the urgency of the situation in South Africa and that there is no working solution in place yet. It’s important to be aware of South Africa’s fight against corruption because the more people around the world know about the problem, the more help the country will be able to obtain. It will also attract more attention to the problem and force a quicker solution. Despite being one of the few countries in Africa to have anti-corruption laws in place, such as the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act, lack of enforcement renders these laws useless (South). Yet, the root cause of the problem can be traced back to two families who contribute the most to South Africa’s money corruption.

Jacob Zuma, the current president of South Africa, has been named one of the biggest contributors to South Africa’s growing corruption problem. Recently, Zuma has been in the center of one of the biggest corruption scandals yet, after he was accused of using government money, over 4.7 million US dollars, to renovate his home (Smith). Zuma’s official statement was that these renovations were necessary for his safety and security, but a home theatre, pool, and visitors centre were among the changes made with government money (Smith). Surprisingly enough, this isn’t the first accusation of corruption against Zuma. In fact, before the election, Zuma had over 783 counts of fraud against him which vary from racketeering to money laundering (Smith). These charges were eventually suspended by the courts because of Zuma’s presidential victory (Zuma).

Another prominent family in South African government, the Guptas, have been accused of corruption several times because of their powerful influence in the government. The Gupta brothers, who came here from India in 1993, began as one small IT company but now have one of the largest business empires in South Africa (Yeatts). A recent 355-page scathing report, written by former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, about the Gupta family has revealed that President Zuma is implicated in a serious case of ethics violations and criminal allegations with one of the Gupta’s biggest companies, Eskom (McKenzie).  In fact, the Gupta and Zuma family are considered so close that many people refer to them as Zupta (McKenzie). One example of allegations made against the Guptas was in December 2015 when President Zuma fired Then-Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene, after his department stated their disapproval of a new nuclear energy plan for South Africa. The Guptas, who had become interested in investing in the nuclear energy sector, were heavily involved in the making of this plan (Yeatts). It was also uncovered later that the new Finance Minister, David van Rooyen, and his associates had close ties to the Gupta family (Yeatts).

In total, the South African government has a lot of work to do and cannot let families such as the Guptas and the Zumas use their power and money for their own benefit at the expense of the people. In the end, this information raises the question, if you can’t trust your government, who can you trust?

                                                                    Works Cited 

McKenzie, David, and Laura Smith-Spark. "South Africa Corruption Report Released amid Protests." CNN. Cable News Network, 02 Nov. 2016. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Smith, David. "Jacob Zuma Accused of Corruption 'on a Grand Scale' in South Africa." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 29 Nov. 2013. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.

Anonymous. "South Africa Corruption Report." GANBACP. Gan Business Portal, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Anonymous. "Why Is Corruption Getting Worse in South Africa?" Corruption Watch. N.p., 18 July 2015. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Yeatts, Tyler, and Joshua Meservey."South Africa Is Losing the War Against Corruption." The Daily Signal. The Daily Signal News and Media, 20 Apr. 2016. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Anonymous. "If Zuma isn't ousted South Africa faces ruin; Cyril Ramaphosa's challenge to the corrupt president is a last chance for ANC and the nation." Times [London, England] 23 Feb. 2017: 20. Global Issues in Context. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.