Given what Angelo Agrizzi has dished up at the Zondo Commission over the past two weeks, you would expect heads to roll.

Then again, it’s not like we haven’t seen the architects of State Capture hung out to dry before, and still, to this day, not a single human languishes behind bars.

At least this time, and with some actual conviction, some of the world’s leaders are sitting up and taking notice, with the governments of Germany, the UK, the US, the Netherlands and Switzerland writing a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

That’s a pretty big deal, with an official in the presidency calling the move ‘unprecedented’, because “foreign countries typically only step in when governments violate their laws or commit human rights violation”.

Here’s BusinessTech:

The memorandum – signed by all five countries – states that there should be a ‘clear, unqualified and manifest political commitment to the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and to honest and ethical business practices’.

The five countries also said that they were concerned about the challenges of foreign investment, referring to the ‘constant changes of the goalposts’ in the regulatory framework for mining, BEE targets and intellectual property rights.

The countries also called for a change in South Africa’s current visa practices.

Because of these issues, the countries – which make up 75% of foreign investment in South Africa – said it would be impossible for any investor to come to South Africa ‘without proper and comprehensive guarantees for his investment’.

They’re really not buying into Ramaphoria, are they? Considering that they make up 75% of this country’s foreign investment, perhaps these screws being tightened will kickstart something, anything, that starts holding people accountable.

Any foreign country who has been watching South Africa these past few years would still have had the Guptas in the front of their mind. Add to that the Bosasa bombshells, which outline just how easy it is to buy your favourite South African politician, and it’s clear that there is rampant criminality operating from the top corridors of this country’s governance.

I’ll say it again – not a single arrest has been made.

Rather predictably, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) responded with disappointment at being called out by the overseas bigwigs, and spun the usual bollocks PR talk:

“All matters that have been raised by investors are being addressed by the respective clusters of our government,” DIRCO said.

“We are satisfied that all the branches of our democratic state, including state agencies, are vigorously pursuing their respective mandates to address our current challenges.”

Really? I’m not sure the general public agrees.

Some hope lies in the fact that the NPA finally has new National Director, Shamila Batohi, and it’s near impossible that she could be worse at her job, or more under the thumb of politicans, than her predecessor Shaun Abrahams.

She certainly talked a good game during her first day at the office.

Let’s see some heads roll, please.

[source:businesstech]