BUSINESS UNITY SA’S UPDATE ON THE RESPONSE TO PART ONE OF THE ZONDO COMMISSION REPORT

11 January 2022

The BUSA Board convened a special meeting on Monday, 10th January 2022 to consider BUSA’s response to Part 1 of the Zondo Commission Report. We convened a special meeting at short notice because we believe the release of Part 1 of the Report reflects an inflection point in our country and all sectors of society must seriously consider the recommendations made by Judge Zondo and also interrogate the Report.

The BUSA Board indicated its intention to urgently engage with BUSA members to ensure we have a comprehensive response, and position, on the Report. The Board was clear that business must utilise the Report for very serious introspection and develop a position that reflects serious consideration of the involvement of businesses in the state capture saga.

We believe the recommendations in the Report relating to investigations and prosecution of identified parties must be pursued with urgency and we expect the criminal justice system to allocate the necessary resources to ensure speedy investigations and prosecution.

BUSA supports all the recommendations in the Report under section (J) of the Report, starting on Page 844 of the Report. We discussed, in particular, the issue of protection of whistle-blowers and a role for business in addressing the dire circumstances some of the whistle-blowers are in. We will work with government and other social partners to contribute to the urgent implementation of the recommendations contained in section (J) of the Report.

The BUSA Board further agreed the following:

We will look at some initiatives already underway to bolster the capacity of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). We will coordinate initiatives by our members into a serious and concerted mechanism to provide necessary resources to the NPA to urgently prepare cases to prosecute those identified in the Report. Such resources could include private prosecutors and other relevant assistance. We will engage the NPA about this.

The BUSA Board has asked relevant members to urgently engage with any businesses mentioned in the Report, in order to get a full briefing from those businesses about the allegations and to understand what actions those businesses intend taking. The outcome of these urgent engagements will inform BUSA’s position on these aspects of the Report.

In conclusion, we must emphasize that we will address the outcomes of Part 1 of the Zondo Commission Report with the seriousness and urgency it deserves. We are, however, an organisation of business associations and have the responsibility to engage members and ensure due process in arriving at a mandated position on the Report. We are processing this with utmost urgency!

Statement issued by Cas Coovadia, Business Unity SA CEO, 11 January 2022

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BUSINESS UNITY SA ON THE RELEASE OF PART ONE OF THE JUDICIAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY REPORT INTO STATE CAPTURE AND CORRUPTION

6 January 2022

We welcome the release of Part 1 of the Zondo Commission Report, presented to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday 4th January 2022. Judge Zondo commenced office as Chairperson of the Commission on 21st August 2018. It has thus been approximately 42 months since the Commission commenced its work, with over R 1 billion spent.

The presentation of Part 1 of the Report is a seminal moment in the ongoing fight against systemic corruption, malfeasance and state capture that has cost the country billions of rand, human life, loss of confidence and has devastated our economy. This has been a devastating blow to our efforts to improve the lives of our people through attracting investment, growing an inclusive economy, and creating jobs.

Part 1 of the Report is a voluminous document that will have to be studied carefully. However, the need to act urgently on the recommendations made in the Part 1 of the Report because we will, as a country, only address the scourge of corruption and state capture, including dealing with it systemically and breaking the solid structures aiding and abetting this, if we act on the recommendations urgently and take quick action against identified perpetrators through the legal system. This applies across society, in government, business, labour and other parts of civil society. The success of the work the Commission has done will best be measured by whether we can take action to reset our society’s moral compass!

BUSA will study the report and convene a Special Board meeting to consider the recommendations and a proactive and substantive role for business, in concert with all social partners, to act on the recommendations.

Statement issued by Cas Coovadia, Business Unity SA CEO, 6 January 2022