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Name and shame ministers involved

Firstly, extravagant excesses such as the car-buying orgy would, in a failed state like Zimbabwe, have been the stuff of mere rumours and whispers. That is where things would have remained, being shrugged off.

However, in a working constitutional democracy such as South Africa, a vibrant and free media, its right to free speech protected by the Constitution, has been able to name and shame the ministers involved.

Despite a recent potentially dangerous legislative move by the government to gain greater leverage over the media, the latter remains basically free and protected, able to report on such atrociousness.

Going hand in hand with that is the existence of a multiparty political system, in which dynamic opposition parties such as the Democratic Alliance (DA), Congress of the People (Cope), Independent Democrats (ID) and others have used their positions in Parliament to ask, in the first place, the awkward questions that forced members of the government to acknowledge their excesses and bring it into the public domain.

The system is working

Other constitutionally established, formal independent institutions such as the Auditor-General have played an immense role in uncovering fraud, corruption, waste, mismanagement, extravagance and incompetence. Current Auditor-General Terence Nombembe recently told us in an interview that his office was succeeding in doing its job despite the low quality of financial reporting in many government departments.

The AG, opposition political parties, and the media collectively have all contributed to show that South Africa's constitutional checks and balances remain in place and the system is therefore working. That does not necessarily mean it is not flawed or without problems and threats.

Nonetheless, to the credit of the government, it has so far resisted tampering seriously with this system, despite having had for a number of years a sufficient majority in Parliament to do just that ? and could probably still do so if it wished.

These various checks and balances also caused Minister Gordhan to raise the issue in Parliament, promising action. The level of corruption that was revealed also moved President Zuma to promise a crackdown on the rot.

Car shopping spree

Most importantly, the revelation of the extravagant car shopping spree prompted Parliament and the government to take action. Richard Baloyi, Minister of Public Service and Administration, has been ordered to review the rules in the Ministerial Handbook. His target date to save taxpayers some money is March next year.

His colleague, Geoff Doidge, Minister of Public Works, has been tasked to review the rules concerning accommodation for ministers following Mthethwa's embarrassing hotel bill.

Finance Minister Gordhan has promised a major improvement in the way in which state procurement and tenders are controlled and managed.

It has also moved South Africa's principle trade union federation and ANC-alliance partner, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, among others to launch a campaign to root out the corruption, the self-enrichment by elected representatives and appointed officials, and the extravagance of ministers showing gross insensitivity towards the financial plight of millions of ordinary South Africans.

It might have been an expensive exercise so far, but at least it proved that South Africa's constitutional system, with its various institutions, checks and balances and independent support systems, is working.

Article courtesy of Leadership Magazine.