Chief Justice Raymond Zondo hands over the final judicial commission on the state capture report to President Cyril Ramaphosa, but government has been accused of being slow in implementing its recommendations. Picture: Oupa Mokoena/African News Agency (ANA) Archives
Cape Town - The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has called on the government to demonstrate more urgency in implementing recommendations from the State Capture report.
The council says society needs frequent progress updates and swift action against corruption.
The council further said the fight against corruption is ongoing, and as the churches, they are confident in South Africans' collective power to overcome this darkness.
This comes after Thursday marked one year since Chief Justice Raymond Zondo delivered the report of the Zondo Commission on State Capture to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
"We call on the public of South Africa to take ownership of the fight against corruption and use the Zondo Commission report as an important step in that fight, and not to let go of the necessary pressure to hold the government accountable for the execution of the recommendations," SACC general secretary, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana said.
"It's been a whole year to the day since the final submission of that weighty report was made public, it is appalling that so little has been achieved in response to such a seminal report that cost the nation close to a billion rand," Mpumlwana said.
He said that the report made significant recommendations that sought to offer workable solutions to the issues of the mismanagement of public funds.
Mpumlwana alluded that SACC is particularly concerned that there have been no serious convictions against any senior personnel fingered in the report. The progress in prosecuting corrupt individuals has been disappointingly slow.
"According to the recent Hawks report, only two cases have been concluded, resulting in suspended sentences for non-high-ranking officials, and this pace is unacceptable.
"We can accept that there is much work to be done, however, the pace at which these recommendations are being implemented, and the lack of frequent updates in terms of actions taken and milestones achieved, is worrisome and needs immediate attention," he said.
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