SOUTH AFRICAN PARLIAMENT FINALLY TAKES A STAND AGAINST CORRUPTION

THE TIMES NEWSPAPER
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
By The Editor
Mar 10, 2009

EDITORIAL:

FOR the first time in a very long while, Parliament took swift action against one of its most senior officials implicated in an alleged cover-up of nepotism and corruption.

Parliament’s secretary, Zingile Dingani, was put on special leave yesterday following a report, compiled by an auditing firm, that suggested wrongdoing on his part.

The allegations are related to claims that another senior parliamentary official attempted to bypass the legislature’s recruitment procedures to appoint her relatives.

Dingani is accused of protecting the official.

Parliament is now planning to take disciplinary action against its most senior official.

The National Assembly’s swift action following the KPMG report is a radical break from past practice that should be welcomed by all. For far too long, Parliament has hidden behind complicated processes and often dragged its feet whenever it had to act against those who breached the country’s laws and the body’s regulations.

Over the last four years, Parliament has managed to erode the public’s confidence in its probity by failing to act effectively against MPs involved in the Travelgate and other scandals. Large numbers of South Africans now believe that Parliament, which was constitutionally created to formulate and pass the country’s laws, has become a safe haven for breakers of the very same laws.

The steps taken by the Speaker and other presiding officers yesterday are in the right direction. We hope that the suspension of Dingani marks the beginning of a new chapter for Parliament, and that officials and parliamentarians who face serious allegations will be properly investigated and swift action taken against them if they are found guilty.

The era of MPs and officials acting as if they were immune from the laws they help create should