While secure peace, sustainable progress and shared prosperity remain the goals of good governance everywhere, it is undeniable that these desirable qualities do not flourish in any society in which endemic grand corruption has taken root and goes unchecked.

Listen to this article 9 min Listen to this article 9 min It was acknowledged by the President himself that the ANC, then the majority party, was "accused number one" before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.

The commission's report, released in 2022, indicates this was an accurate assessment of the situation, one that requires urgent attention via the enforcement of South Africa's international treaty obligations which specify independent anti-corruption machinery of state, and by implementing the binding Glenister litigation rulings of the Constitutional Court. These decisions require Parliament to create a body outside the control of the executive to deal with corruption. That body must be, according to the ConCourt's findings, specialised, trained, independent, adequately resourced and secure in its tenure of office.

South Africa has no such body.

On the contrary, SA remains in breach of its obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption treaty (and similar treaties at the African Union, Southern African Development Community and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) even though the ANC, on its own, no longer enjoys majority status in Parliament.

It is largely because of its tolerance of grand corruption that the ANC has lost popular...