Sean McLaughlin speaks to OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage: An optimistic vision for SA

Wayne Duvenage, CEO of OUTA, paints an optimistic picture of South Africa’s future, emphasizing the need for a post-ANC amnesty to address wrongdoing. He sees civil society’s collective power as key to driving positive change, backed by international support for truth and reconciliation efforts. With a focus on accountability and reform, Duvenage’s vision signals hope for a new chapter in South Africa’s governance.

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By Sean McLaughlin

In an interview with the OUTA CEO, he outlines why he is optimistic about SA, the political landscape and its interaction with the justice system. He calls for a post-ANC amnesty on wrongdoing in office. He states that civil society as a collective can win in turning the country around.

A very nondescript, overcast morning in Johannesburg.

In the days leading into this meeting, civic action organisation OUTA – the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse – had revealed yet another scandal at the heart of SA’s ruling party.

OUTA relies on courageous whistle blowers for the provision of information and sits on a wealth of evidence.

Read more: Fix IRP 2023 – or face court: Wayne Duvenage

Political backdrop

Things appear remarkably calm in these offices. CEO Wayne Duvenage talks in a composed manner. About SA, “I’m optimistic”, he tells me.

How could this man remain optimistic about the country’s prospects given all that his organisation has revealed?

A first is that change is gradually coming through the ballot box. The ruling ANC’s current plunder spree is perhaps accelerating precisely because it represents its final grabs. On 29th May, it will likely have lost its national majority for the first time.

Most unlikely is a military takeover to keep the ruling party in power until the end of time.

Duvenage nuances, “I think they [the ANC] could create a police state if they really wanted to do so, but there would be an enormous amount of opposition to it from the country’s substantial middle class, it would be politically untenable”.

I try to disprove my own bullish narratives about SA. And so, I push him a bit further. I referred to a case in mid-2023, in which lieutenant Colonel Frans Mathipa from a special branch of the South African Police Service (SAPS), was assassinated.

That unit is named the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI – commonly known as The Hawks). It was carried out in a very calculated manner when Mathipa was investigating an abduction case involving the South African National Defence Special Forces Unit (SANDF). The SANDF had effectively been attempting to block the case.

Duvenage admits that this is concerning.

He states how a lack of political will impedes cases being pursued by the National Prosecution Authority (NPA).

“There is a huge pile of work that the NPA will never get to… The budget for the Hawks comes from the Ministry of Justice, whose budget is overseen by the Ministry of Finance, and those are political appointees.”

Yet the point remains that the interference in such matters is political, and SA is on the brink of fundamental political change.

Duvenhage concurs that the ANC could drop like a stone over the next 5 years.

“Yes, this could be a possible scenario. Much like the rapid demise of the National Party. Once they lose power, they all but cease to exist in a short space of time, especially if the extent of corruption is revealed and arrests of their leadership begins to unfold.”

He hands me a book, ’Permitted Plundering: How Parliament failed South Africa’ by political commentator Isle Salzwedal. It details the political manipulation of parliament which allowed for a lost decade of state capture and puts forward political reforms. In the book, OUTA’s Stefanie Fick has the last word, “Citizens should also remember that the power lies with us, and we can take it back from those we elected if we so wish…. Civil society should never back down and keep quiet”.

A post-ANC Amnesty

Many analysts would advise against pursuing a diminished ANC and its officials to the point of marginalising and castigating the party, harming national cohesion.

Duvenage calls for a post-ANC amnesty of sorts. “This could take the form of ‘truth and reconciliation’ style hearings. Immunity in return for full divulgence.”

It could garner international funding, he continues, “The international community could certainly be involved in funding it, it would be seen as aid to a developing country to get the country on a corrected and economically sound path again… I think it would have to mapped out and oversight to be conducted by trusted international, independent entities.”

It may also soften the long-feared ANC break up, if politicians losing seats refrain from inciting violence.

It would redirect the eyes of the world to SA yet again (beyond five-yearly sporting events). It would show the world that SA is serious about post liberation politics, and open for investment. A new chapter.

Read more: BNC#6: Wayne Duvenage – Leading the charge against corruption in SA

SA moving forward

SA’s main opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA) has proposed the creation of an elite crime fighting unit, a reincarnated version of the previous ‘Scorpions’, so successful that President Jacob Zuma had them disbanded soon after becoming President in 2009.

This would be named “The Anti-Corruption Commission”, independent of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which may very well be subject to political interference. If introduced, it could only be disbanded by a two-thirds majority in parliament to secure tenure and would be accountable to parliament and not the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services.

The paradoxes and contradictions of the SA political panorama keep analysts busy.

Well-known by now is that corruption is endemic within SA’s ruling African National Congress (ANC). SA scores 43/100 on Transparency International’s corruption index, which measures a plethora of factors, including bribery and the diversion of public funds.

Yet there exists also a litany of civil society organisations such as this one, seemingly free to operate in their work in uncovering wrongdoing.

SA, for every setback, there is a fightback.

Again, I ask myself if the ill-intentioned forces in motion in SA are irreversible? I do not think so.

OUTA is now expanding into an entity pioneering ‘co-governance’, in which citizen-led groups take the lead in governance such as running local water utilities.

I dig further into where his motivation comes from, asking if his Zimbabwean background instils a will for the same fate not to be repeated.

“Well, I was 5 years old when my family moved from Zimbabwe, so I have no recollection of living there. It is ultimately the fact that we have incredible potential to achieve far greater prosperity for all who live in SA, and we are largely united as a people, a legacy from Nelson Mandela that still live deep within the psyche of the nation… We can stand up and win as a collective.”

OUTA is funded for the most part by ordinary citizens and small businesses making monthly donations. SA’s civil society and march forward is alive and well.

The meeting is coming to an end. The day is getting on. There is no shortage of work to do.